My Hyrulian Adventure
by Draconius du Vryle
Summary: Written in First Person. I play a game, but the game becomes all too real. I fall into the Kingdom of Hyrule and faced with an unknown task. Will Link, Zelda and I cope? This story will contain Mpreg, but no yaoi. LINKxZELDA Please Review.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: This story features Zelda and Link as a couple.

Mpreg (No Yaoi)

Own Character added

I fall into the Kingdom of Hyrule, Link falls pregnant, and a task I don't understand is thrust upon me. Not only that, but a mysterious Shadow-Shape begins to haunt the people of Hyrule. Will Link, Zelda, and I be able to cope with the situation?

Disclaimer: I do not own the charcters in this story, nor do I make any money from it. Entertainment only.

* * *

It has been a WEIRD year! I am so exhausted with taking care of Link, Hyrule, Zelda, and my own home, but it is good to have the responsibility. I apologize: my name is Christina, I'm 25, I'm a college student, and boy do I have a story to tell.

It all really began about 14 months ago when I sat down to play one of my favorite video games: The Legend of Zelda; Twilight Princess. All was going normal when the screen on my TV began acting weird. It began to ripple like I was losing the signal, then it began to wave back and forth like a ship on the water. Naturally, I thought the game was messing up, so I turned it off and unplugged the console. What I didn't know was that by turning off everything, I had finished opening a portal: a portal, in which the lines of fiction and reality were blurred, and monsters and heroes that were once simple pixels and graphics could do things that were unheard of. Well, the rest of the day I worked on my homework for my business classes, and thought nothing of the strange behavior of my game console. The next morning I went to my classes as normal, but it was on my way home that the weirdness began.

I was driving in my little Hyundai, just listening to my favorite country star on the radio when at the passenger side of my car a flash of light appeared! It scared me so bad that I swerved into the next lane of traffic, narrowly avoided being hit by a semi, and it caught the attention of a police officer. I wasn't even paying attention to the cop though, as I was more occupied with what was happening next to me. From the flash of light materialized someone that looked human, but more graceful than any human I had ever met. The features grew more and more detailed as the light disappeared, and the creature manifested itself. By this point I was so frightened that I pulled off to the side of the road and attempted to flee the car, but as it was a habit to lock my doors while I was driving, and my frightened brain could not cope with it, I tugged on the door handle like an idiot, screamed bloody murder, and all I could do was watch the events taking place in the passenger seat of my car. When the light was finally gone, there was a young man that had taken its place. Don't get me wrong, I have a boyfriend, but if I was not seeing him I would definitely given this guy a chance. He was gorgeous! He had dark blond hair that was mostly hidden beneath a green hat, but it peeked out through the top so I could see just enough. His hat was strange enough as well: it rather looked like one of those old night-caps that you saw Ebenezer Scrooge in from Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" and the end of it fell to his slender waist. His face was utterly angelic, with bright blue eyes that shone with a kindness and ferocity that is usually only seen in the movies. He wore a tunic of green with leather strapping around his waist and chest, and he wore bracers on his arms that covered his hands, but the most odd feature about the boy was his ears. They were longer than any normal ears I had ever seen and they came to perfect points at their tips. We looked at each other in shock and awe. He sat there next to me without saying a word until that cop approached the car. The officer knocked on the driver's door, and asked,

"Are you okay, Miss?" I replied,

"Yes sir just got a little bit scared of something that I saw."

"What did you see?"

"I thought I saw an animal in the road, and I swerved to avoid hitting it."

"Can you both step out of the car please?"

"Okay."

I stepped out of the car, but I saw that my newly acquired passenger hadn't made a single move.

"What's wrong with your friend?"

"He's new to town, and he doesn't understand English very well."

"Tell him to step out of the car."

I didn't know what to do. This was a character that was known for never saying a word to anyone. All I could do was look over at him and repeat what the officer had said. He looked at the cop, and me and seemed to understand that we were dealing with someone who upheld the law. He nodded, and repeated the action he had seen me do with pulling on the handle of the door. He got out of the car, and stood next to me. After the officer had searched my car to his satisfaction, and determined that neither of us were under the influence of any kind of drug he let us go. I had to open the door for my new friend as he was indeed new to town, and didn't understand. In fact, he appeared to be slightly shaken by the whole experience. I looked at him, and I asked him point blank:

"Is your name Link?"

He nodded at me.

"Can you speak?"

"Indeed I can. Why would you ask such a ridiculous question, and can you tell me where I am? This place looks nothing like Hyrule."

I was shocked for the second time that day. Link, the Silent Hero, the One whose actions truly spoke louder than words, was talking and I was the one to hear his voice for the first time.

"Well," I replied, "You're in a place called America, in the state of Florida."

"I have never heard of either of these places. Is this some new temple that I have to conquer and claim its treasures?"

"No, it's just where I live."

"Who are you?" he asked me.

I told him my name, and he asked me again why "in the name of the goddesses would I assume he couldn't speak."

I looked at him, and realized that I had a lot of explaining to do. This was a guy who had materialized out of a video game into my car. That defied the laws of physics themselves, not only that but I suddenly realized that the answer to the question of whether or not there were alternate dimension out there had been answered. Yes, I had some explaining to do. I made a call to my friend, Kyle, who was an avid Zelda fan and told him that I had someone with me that he would want to meet. When we got there, Kyle stepped out to meet us and when he saw Link, he was ecstatic. If you have ever seen the way that a dog greets its master when he comes home, that was the way Kyle acted. Of course, Link was not amused and drew his sword and warned the boy to get back. After I explained that Kyle was a friend of mine, and we were both going to try to answer Link's questions he sheathed his sword and allowed us to lead him into the house, but he kept a very close eye on Kyle. Kyle took us to his room where his own game console was, and he took out all of his Zelda games. The big surprise took us when we found that Link was not on any of the game covers. He was just gone! We both assumed it was because Link was standing here with us instead of in Hyrule where he belonged. Then we looked at Youtube, fan galleries, and photo galleries for any videos or photos relating to Link: nothing. Link was here in our world, and he was all too real.

"Ummm, Link," I said, "We have a problem."

"I can already see that. How do we solve it?"

"Well, let's look at what we know: you are supposed to be in the world of Hyrule and somehow you showed up in my car. This means that you are no longer made of pixels and digital photography; you're flesh and blood. This means that if you get hurt in this world you get hurt for real, and unfortunately here there are no fairies to heal you. You will heal the normal way, which takes a long time. Not only that, I am worried that if you got through other things may have as well."

"What kind of things?" he asked.

"You're enemies. The creatures that you had to fight in your world may very well have come to this one, which means that they will cause havoc if they get through. We need to get you back through whatever portal you came from and shut it."

"I have a different theory," said Kyle. "What if the Portal shut itself behind Link and can only be opened if something happens?"

"Kyle, in all the years that video games have existed when have you ever known a portal to open or shut on it's own without the aid of a hero?"

Kyle looked at me and then at Link and said, "You're right. Let's think: Link, what do you last remember doing before you showed up in Christina's car?"

Link folded his hands and sat back in his chair with a thoughtful look on his handsome face. After a minute he replied,

"I believe I was riding my horse somewhere in the Hyrule fields looking for a treasure chest that contained something of value to me."

Man, Link may have been able to talk all along, but he was a hero of few words.

"Okay, I was driving my car when all this happened, and before that I was studying. Wait a sec, I was also playing my Zelda game and my TV screen started acting funny."

Kyle asked, "Funny, how?"

"It kinda rippled like water and then started acting like it was losing signal. You don't think…..?"

"That could be the Portal back to my own world." Link replied.

"I can't take you back to my house right now though. My parents would not understand why I have brought home a boy that I am not related to, nor would they let you spend the night so I can't bring you to my house until morning."

"It is alright. I have been in worse places. Besides I don't ever recall having to feel the need to sleep."

"Link, you are not in Hyrule; you are in America. There are different laws here that apply to living creatures, three of them being the need for sleep, food, and water."

"It's cool, Christina. He can sleep here at my house. Link and me are going to be best buds, you'll see."

Link and I passed a glance to each other knowing that Kyle's behavior would probably less than savory, but what else could we do?

"Don't worry, dude," I said, "I'll be back in the morning for you, in the mean time Kyle, please don't piss him off, and Link, if he pisses you off don't hurt him."

We all shared a laugh and I took off for home. The next morning, after my parents had left, I made the trip over to Kyle's house. When I got there, I found chaos. Kyle had ignored my warning about pissing off Link, and I found couches overturned and Kyle huddling in the corner with Link standing over him with his sword drawn.

"WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED HERE!" I shouted.

Link looked at me and sheathed his sword. I looked at Kyle and said,

"Kyle! What did you do to piss him off?"

"I don't know!" he sobbed.

"This boy impeded on the honor of Princess Zelda, and informed me that he thought she was nothing better than the town tart. I will not have the name of the Princess of Hyrule sullied by a stupid boy who cannot hold his tongue in check!"

It was the most I had ever heard Link say up to that point, and I was appalled that Kyle would go that far.

"Kyle, I'll deal with you later. Come on Link, let's get you home."

Kyle timidly spoke up, "can I help?"

I looked at him and said, "I don't think that's a good idea. You've already made him mad once."

Link and I left the house leaving a dejected Kyle to clean up the mess that he had made. I looked at Link and thoroughly apologized for his behavior. Link looked at me and said,

"I do not blame you by any means. I just want to go home."

We walked into my house, and I turned on the game that had caused the trouble. Once again the screen began to ripple and roll like there was something wrong with the signal. Link walked up to the screen, and tried to put his hand through it, but I stopped him. I looked at his angelic face and I asked him,

"Link, before you go could I please see the Triforce of Courage?"

Link took off his right bracer, and there it was. It looked like a tattoo on his hand, but it had a power behind it that I could not place. To behold such an emblem was truly a great honor for me.

"Thank you, Link."

I put my hand out to shake his hand, and he clasped it with the hand that bore the Triforce. After a short shake we tried to release our hands, but they would not let go of each other. We were stuck!

"Link, let go of my hand!"

"You release my hand!"

"I can't!"

Suddenly I felt a pulling around my waist. It was as if something had grabbed me and was pulling me towards the screen. It did not hurt, but it was surprising. Link must have felt it was well because he had a surprised look on his face as well. Somehow we passed through a doorway of light that had emerged from the screen and as we were pulled along, I felt my body begin to change somehow. My clothing became different, and my body seemed to become stronger, more muscular, and sleeker. The light became more and more narrow, and then a pinpoint of darkness at the end that grew larger and larger, until finally we emerged from the light, a tangle of arms and legs, hands still clasped together, and both of us very shocked. The door closed behind us and all that was left surrounding us was sunlight and a great, grassy field. Finally, I was able to let go of Link's hand and take a look around.

"Where am I? Link! What did you do?"

"Me? I did nothing!"

"Somebody did something!"

"It was I."

The voice seemed to come from all around us. It was a sweet feminine voice that was full of power. Link looked to his right, and I followed suit. Then over the hill a drop-dead gorgeous woman came riding up over the hill on a white horse leading two other horses behind her. She pulled up beside us, and said,

"It was I who called you here. I am sorry Link, but I had to send you to the other world without your knowledge."

I looked at the lady and said,

"Princess Zelda, I assume?"

"You assume correctly; now to business: Link please escort the young lady to the castle we have much to discuss."


	2. Chapter 2

Link and I shared a questioning look, but we did as the princess said. She had already taken off ahead of us at a very fast pace, so we had to follow behind. He got on his trusty mare, Epona, and I on the horse that the princess had let me borrow. Lucky for me Link knew his way around Hyrule like the back of his hand so he had no problem finding the castle. Once we reached the gate we found a curious thing: it was shut tight. I looked at him and asked,

"Didn't the princess tell us to come this way?"

"It is a rule that none may pass without first giving the password to the guard. Even I am not exempt from this rule."

The guard soon appeared in the turret and shouted,

"Who is it that seeks an audience with Princess Zelda?"

"Link, the Hero of the Light and a friend of mine. I personally vouch for the young lady."

"I shall allow it. Open the gates."

The bridge was lowered and the portcullis was raised to allow us passage. A young stable boy met us at the entrance and took our horses. Then the strangest thing that I had seen so far happened to Link: as soon as his feet touched the stone steps of the castle he became very pale, grabbed his head, and said,

"Christina, I don't feel well,"

and he passed out! Just out like a light. I caught him before his body hit the stone floor, and I held him. The stable boy looked at Link in surprise, and I told the boy,

"GO GET ZELDA!"

The boy was off like a shot, and soon Zelda came to the stable. Link was still unconscious when she arrived, and it was only after she had spoken a few words of healing that he came to himself. I looked at Zelda very panicked because, even though I hadn't known Link for that long I knew enough about video game hero's that they do not just pass out from dismounting a horse; especially on their own turf. Zelda looked at me and said,

"Don't worry, he will be alright."

"Your Majesty, how could this have happened!"

"Come with me, and bring Link with you."

I picked up the young man with more ease then I expected to. I have always been a strong girl, but something about the Hyrulian air must have imbued me with a power than was beyond my normal strength. I cradled Link in my arms like a child, and carried him up the stairs to Zelda's chambers. Once there, Zelda began giving orders,

"Place Link upon the bed, and then allow me to look at him."

This being done I stepped back and allowed Zelda to do her work. She removed his tunic and exposed his chest and abdomen. I just about melted when I saw what he looked like underneath his tunic. He was finely muscled and very much in shape with abdominal muscles peeking through the skin on his belly. His arms were strongly tuned and attached to two pairs of shoulders that looked like they could have belonged to Atlas. He was dead sexy, but I was quickly brought from my reverie when a shadow suddenly moved in the corner. I was immediately en guard against whatever threat lay lurking in the shadows, but then Zelda spoke up,

"Christina, all is well. It is just an old friend that you see nothing more."

Then she spoke to the shadows,

"You can come out and make your presence known, Midna. This lady will do no harm."

Out from the shadows stepped a tall figure without a clear shape. Then the figure materialized into a woman: a woman who seemed to be darkness, light, and shadow rolled into one. She had flaming red hair and glowing blue tattoos all over her body in a language that I did not recognize. As Zelda was to light this lady was to shadow. Then the woman spoke to me,

"Ahh, I see the Hero has brought a friend to Hyrule. Someone for me to play with, perhaps?"

"Ummm, Midna I know who you are: Twilight Princess. I am also wondering how you are able to come back to the world of light. The Mirror of Twilight was destroyed when you returned to your world the last time."

Midna looked me over, and then looked to Zelda,

"This girl knows more than what's good for her. Are you sure about this, Zelda?"

"Yes Midna. It is the only way."

Now I was truly confused. I had played "Twilight Princess" several times and knew the story quite well. How was it that Midna was able to return to Hyrule? Not only that Zelda and Midna seemed to have some sort of mysterious plan that they did not want to share with me and Link just yet.

"Link," Zelda said, "You are alright, but I strongly suggest that you stay away from any rigorous activity for a while. In the meantime, I believe that Midna and I owe you and Link an explanation for this conundrum."

I was all ears.

Zelda motioned for me to sit down, and then she began the story.

"First of all, I wish to apologize to both you and Link about having him show up so abruptly in you're world. It needed to be done without either one of you knowing about it, but I'll get to that in a minute. Now, to answer your first question: Midna did indeed destroy the Mirror of Twilight thus disconnecting a tangible link between this world and the world of shadows. However, it was not the only link. Being the Princesses of Light and Shadow we possess a certain connection to each other and if a need is great enough, the goddesses of Hyrule have granted that the doorway between the worlds can be reopened. That need has arisen. I am sure you are aware of the villain of Hyrule?"

"Gannondorf," I replied.

"Indeed. He roams these lands again, but in a far more dangerous way. He delved into the Old Magic again and found something that the goddesses had sealed away for all eternity, and only the one who bore the Triforce of Power could retrieve. It is a weapon that if used in the wrong hands can mean the utter destruction of Hyrule. It is called the Cloak of Shadows. When worn, this cloak allows the wearer to become invincible to anyone born of Hyrulian blood. No weapon can touch him if the wielder is pure Hyrulian."

It was here that I interrupted."

"Your Majesty, I cannot wield a sword at all! I hope that you were not expecting me to go up against Gannondorf."

"No, you see, you cannot fight him either because you are from another world and thus do not have the power to defeat him."

"So what do you need me for?"

"Midna and I did some research on how to defeat the wearer of the Cloak of Shadows. There is a prophecy that the Hero of Light and One from a land where magic sleeps will meet with the help of the Rulers of Light and Shadow. The Hero must meet the One in her own land, and it must be done without either one knowing about it otherwise the magic won't work. After they meet, they will bear a child that will have the power to defeat Gannondorf because he is the child of the Hero and the One. We have found the One: you."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait…you want me to get pregnant with Link's kid just so the world won't be destroyed? Seems like a pretty big sacrifice on my part, and I already have someone. I don't think he would appreciate it if I lent my body to be a surrogate to someone I barely know, let alone someone who I believed to be a fictional character until just the other day."

"Let me finish the story: the child must be born of the Hero, that means that it must be Link's body that the child must be born from, not yours."

Up until that point Link had been laying quietly listening to the story, but when he heard how the two princesses planned on defeating Gannondorf this time, he sat bolt upright in bed and exclaimed,

"YOU WANT ME TO DO **WHAT**!"

I hadn't heard Link scream, ever. It surprised all three of us in the room.

"I absolutely refuse to do something that my body was never intended for!"

Then Zelda and Midna exchanged a glance, and I knew something was up.

"Your Majesties, what did you do?" I asked.

Zelda looked on as calm as ever and said,

"I am sorry Link, but the process has already begun."

Link turned pale and then a bright shade of purple I had never seen anyone achieve. The usually calm, cool, and collected Hero was mad, no, furious. He would serve his Princess to the end of his life, but this was an unthinkable act that he was being forced to do. He asked in a dangerously calm voice,

"How?"

"Whenever you stepped into the other world you're body began to rearrange itself inwardly. I am sure you felt pinches and aches that were unusual to you. Then whenever you stepped back into Hyrule the process completed itself, and when your feet touched the steps of the castle, your body became aware of the challenge it would need to perform and it reacted by making you pass out so that it could 'activate' itself to achieve the ability to allow you to get pregnant. I am sorry that I could not tell you, the magic would not work otherwise."

After hearing the explanation, he asked,

"Am I, then?"

"Not yet." Zelda replied. "There is one final thing that needs to be done before you are truly pregnant."

"I refuse to do it," said Link. "I am not having my body turned into a science experiment."

"But Link, if you don't then you'll die! Your body was not equipped for this when we began, and if you don't then your body will simply reject the changes it made to itself and, strong as you are, your body can't deal with that kind of stress again."

Link grew silent at this. He didn't want to die, but he didn't want his body turned into something that could only be used for the salvation of Hyrule. Then again, he really had no choice. The decision had been made for him, and he would have to follow through or die. Defeated and angry, Link looked at the two Princesses and asked,

"What else do I have to do?"

Zelda looked at me and said,

"Christina, come to my side and hold out your right hand. Link, give me your right hand as well."

She took our hands and produced a glittering knife that was probably one of the most gorgeous ceremonial daggers I had ever seen. Zelda took Link's hand and Midna took mine, then they tied our hands together with a piece of satin ribbon that looked like light and shadow at the same time. Then the two Princesses repeated this spell,

Blood of the Hero

Chosen from Above

Hylian born

'Tis you the Light doth love.

Blood of the One

Chosen by fate

From the shadows you emerged

And from you we now create.

A Child of Light and Shadow

As it is written of old

Save us now,

You heroes so bold.

After the spell was said, Zelda took the dagger and pricked all five of mine and Link's fingers on our right hands then pressed them together. Our blood mixed, and within Link's body he felt something like a pinch in his lower belly, and then nothing.

"That's it?" he asked.

"For now." Zelda replied. "In the meantime we will leave the two of you alone and allow you some time to yourselves to process things. Christina, when you are ready just call the porter and he will escort you to your chambers, and Link…thank you."

Link waved her off, and lay back on his bed. I could tell that he was hurt. He felt betrayed by the woman he loved dearly, and he felt as if he were just being used. I looked at him, and said,

"Link…I'm sorry. I had no idea that this was going to happen."

"It's not your fault, Christina. I just want to be alone now, so can you please call the porter?"

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine. I just need some time to process things."

"Okay, I'll see you later. Oh, and Link: I'm glad I met you. This has been an interesting adventure to say the least."

Link smiled at me lay back on his pillow and closed his eyes. I called the porter who escorted me to a room just a few doors down from Link. The room was simply magnificent! It had all the opulence of the royal family, and while I felt honored to be a guest of the royal family I could not help feeling bad for Link. The poor boy was in bed a few doors down from me feeling very used and hurt. Although I knew that it was for the good of Hyrule, it seemed very unlike Zelda to do something so unusual to the man she loved. But then again, what did I know, I was just some woman from out of town, and my purpose here had been served. Well, I thought I might as well take a look around as long as I was here. I found a full-length mirror in the bathroom, and for the first time I got a good look at myself. I was drop-dead gorgeous! My usually soft body had gotten much more toned, and my face, though still round, was quite stunning. However, the most interesting thing was not my body, but what was on my body. Whenever I had passed through the door of light, I knew that my clothes had changed, but they were so different that I was shocked. My jeans and t-shirt had morphed somehow into a stylish skirt and corset that were black and red in color and had an unusual pattern on them. My skirt was long so that it was modest, but it was cut to flatter my new figure, and the corset pulled in my belly to make it look even more slender. My hair had also changed. It was usually a dark brown, but now it was copper colored with black streaked throughout, but my eyes remained the same clear dark brown they had always been. Then I noticed my ears. They were smaller than Link's but the tips had definitely grown, and they were pointed at the ends. I had elf ears! I was still human, but my outward appearance had changed drastically. After admiring my new physic for a few minutes, I took a look around the room. There in the corner, was a sword with the scabbard and belt and a shield just my size and weight and perfect for me to handle. I thought to myself,

"Does Zelda expect me to get in a fight with someone? Ahh, whatever, I've got a sword!" After swinging around my new toy for a while, I decided to go check on Link and I wanted to show off my new weapons. I ran over to his room and knocked on the door. The voice inside said,

"If you are Zelda, I do NOT want to see you right now!"

I replied,

"It's me! I have stuff I want to show you!"

"Oh, ok. Come on in, Christina."

I entered his room and found Link, as he was when I left him earlier: lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling like he didn't have a friend in the world.

I pulled my sword from my back waved it around a little in an enticing manner and said,

"You want to spar a little?"

"I can't, remember? I'm pregnant."

"Oh, Link you're not THAT pregnant; you can still swing a sword. You don't have a belly that gets in the way yet. Come on, it might cheer you up a little. Besides you can beat me easy."

Link looked at my attempted defensive stance, and me and burst out laughing. I was confused until Link said,

"You look like you're about to fall over, here, let me show you."

He showed me the proper way to stand and fight, and it was just then that the porter came in to announce that dinner would be served shortly and we were to follow him to the dining hall. The four of us passed the evening without saying a word to each other. The two princesses looked very guilty, and Link and I felt used. After dinner we all retired to our rooms. However, it was apparent to me and Link that neither of us would get much sleep that night. I tossed and turned in my bed, and even though I was exhausted from the day's events I couldn't sleep, so I got up and decided to try to practice with my sword and shield a little. While I was practicing, I heard my door open and I whipped around brandishing my weapon against the intruder. It was the last person I expected to find in my chambers that evening: Link.

"I see you couldn't sleep either, Christina."

"No, the day's events have stressed me out quite a bit, and I'm finding sleep difficult to come by."

"Well, in Hyrule sleep is something that heroes rarely get to experience, so I'm used to it."

"You should still try to get a little. If only for…"

I couldn't finish the sentence. It still seemed so alien that the man who stood before me was pregnant with MY child. It was supposed to be the other way around, but what was done was done. I sat on my bed and Link sat beside me. I asked him,

"Do you think I'll be a good mom?"

"I think that I don't want to think about that right now."

Oh God, he was so sexy, and he seemed to want me as much as I wanted him in that moment.

"Link, I…"

"Shhh." He put his fingers to my lips, and it sent a shock of pleasure through my body. Then he leaned over tilted my head up and placed a kiss on my lips. It was not an expert kiss, as Link had never kissed many girls, but it was sweet. I pulled away from him and I took his hands,

"Link, I know that you are angry with Zelda right now, but you still love her and it is she who you are meant for. Please don't make this any more confusing then it already is."

"Do you wish me to leave?"

"No, stay as long as you like. We'll talk and swap stories and we don't even have to talk about the …baby."

For the first time since that afternoon, he looked down at his belly and placed the hand that bore the Triforce on it. Then he looked at me and said,

"You're right, I am still angry with Zelda and Midna. But I can honestly say that even though I don't want this baby, it is not its fault. It is the product of Gannondorf's evil, and I can bring no blame to it. That is not the way of the Hero."

I looked at Link with tears shining in my eyes, and I embraced him in a hug. He hugged me back and it was something that we both desperately needed.


	3. Chapter 3

Link and I stayed up for a few more hours, until we both finally felt relaxation and exhaustion come over our bodies. Link retired to his room and I snuggled down amongst the sea of blankets that dressed the stately bed. I sank into my usual dreams of battles and heroism, but then a new dream appeared before me: I stood in the middle of a battlefield; bodies of the dead and dying strewn around me, and I could no nothing. I felt devastation creep into my heart for these poor souls because somehow I knew it was my fault that this had happened. Then I saw the most terrible thing that I could have ever seen. Link, the Hero of Light, lay at my feet bleeding from a great wound in his side. He looked to be very advanced in his pregnancy as his belly was protruding in the typical way that you see a pregnant woman's. I knelt down before him, and I held him in my arms. He looked up at me with glassy eyes and his hand moved towards his belly. He asked in a weak voice,

"Christina, why?"

And then he expired in my arms. I felt a flood of emotions: sadness, anger, and then blind rage. I picked up the Master Sword that had belonged to Link, and I rushed at a dark figure that had been the cause of all this. But I was too late; Gannondorf leered at me as he caught my arm, and then he gave me a malicious look, threw me down on the ground and lifted his huge sword above his head. Just as he brought it down I woke up, sat straight up in bed, drenched in a cold sweat. After making a quick check that I had not indeed been impaled by a sword, my next thoughts turned to Link. I had to make sure he was okay! I rushed from my bedroom, and pulled open the door. I found Link thrashing about in his bed, and so I jumped on his bed, and began to shake him. Bad idea. I screamed Link's name, and he woke up and threw a punch that sent me flying across the room. Thanks to my new body nothing was seriously injured, but as soon as Link saw whom it was that he had punched, he immediately rushed to my side.

"Christina! Are you okay?"

"OWWW! Link, why the hell did you do that?"

"I was not in my right mind, I'm sorry!"

"Ugh, I'm alright. I just had a bad dream about you and it seemed so real that I had to make sure you were okay."

"Are you certain that you aren't injured?"

"I'm going to have a lovely shiner in a while, but nothing is broken except my pride."

"Okay. You had a bad dream about me?"

"Yeah, you died in my arms on a battlefield, and you hadn't even had the baby yet. It was awful!"

"Huh, odd. I was just having a dream that I was being controlled by something, and I was murdering all of my friends and loved ones. I didn't want to, but I couldn't help it. Then you screamed my name, and I reacted. I am so sorry I punched you in the face. Can you forgive me?"

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it. However, I think we need to talk to the princesses about this."

At this statement, Link got a dark look on his face. I could tell that seeing them again was not something he wanted to do so soon.

"Link, I know how you feel, but I think we need more information about this 'Cloak of Shadows' thing, and those two are most likely the only ones who know the most about it."

He agreed to go with me, so we called the guard, and he asked him to inform Princess Zelda and Princess Midna that Link and I desired an audience with them in the castle library. The guard ran off to deliver the message, and Link and I made our way to the library. While we waited, I looked at the books on the shelves. They all had strange titles in many different languages, and one in particular caught my eye: _The Realm of Shadows and the Secrets it Hides_. I picked up the book and began to thumb through it, but it was written in a strange language that I couldn't understand. Just then, the princesses strode into the library as gracefully as ever. Link became very interested in the carpet all of a sudden, and I put down the book. I walked over to them and curtly I said,

"Your majesties, we have some questions that we need answered."

Zelda replied,

"What questions?"

"Well, first of all, Midna, can you tell us anything else about the Cloak of Shadows?"

"I'm afraid, that I don't know much about it. That kind of magic is so old that it was nearly forgotten and the instructions were never passed down to my family as the only person who could wield it is the person who bears the Triforce of Power. I was made aware of its existence, but nothing else."

Then Link spoke up,

"Is it possible that the wearer has the power to manipulate dreams?"

Midna replied,

"Hmmm, I'm not sure. It's possible, but I just don't know. Only the one who can defeat Gannondorf would know that, and he is not with us yet."

I asked,

"Is it possible to request an audience with the Goddesses? They must know something about it; after all this kind of thing would be their specialty."

Zelda replied,

"To ask such a favor is rare and practically unheard of. The last time people interfered in the Sacred Realm they were banished."

Midna said,

"It's true. I'm a descendant of that generation."

"I'm just asking if it is possible. People have talked to them before, so can we now?"

The princesses looked at each other not knowing how to reply. Then I picked up the book I had been looking at.

"What about this?" I asked.

Midna took the book from me and laid it back on the shelf.

"That book has nothing in it that deals with our problem, believe me. It was that book that we looked through many times for any reference dealing with the Cloak. It won't help."

"So what do we do?" asked Link.

"We try to hold an audience with the Goddesses. It appears to be our only course of action at this point," replied Zelda. "The best time to do this would be sunrise. That is when new light falls on the world and it is purest."

"That happens in just a few minutes," Link said.

"Then we must be swift. Come; let us go to the observatory. There is an ossuary there and the light illuminates well at sunrise."

The four of us made our way to the observatory to see if we could ask questions of the source itself. Once we got there, the sun had begun to peek its first rays over the horizon, and Princess Zelda drew an Arrow of Light and shot it straight above us into the sky. The arrow mixed with the sun's rays, and a shimmering figure appeared where the arrow had glimmered. It was beautiful to behold. The figure appeared to be cloaked with Light itself, and had a power that emanated from its very core. The Triforces on Zelda and Link glowed with that same power, and I felt that I was in the presence of someone who was very powerful and could easily strike any of us down with a single wave of the hand. Zelda approached the figure and said,

"Goddess of Hyrule, we have questions that we need answers to."

"I am aware of the questions that you have, and I have the answers. However I cannot give them to those who do not bear the Triforce of Wisdom. The others must leave."

At this point I felt really disappointed. I wanted to know what to do, and now I was being told that I needed to leave. Man! Midna, Link, and I left the room while Zelda held discourse with the Goddess. After a while, Zelda came back out with a look of understanding and satisfaction.

"My friends," she said, "You will be happy to know that our course of action was not in vain. Link, yours and Christina's child must be the one to save the world. However," her face grew sad, "the two of you will not be able to raise him. By the time the child would be of age in this world to challenge Gannondorf, it would be too late. Hyrule would be destroyed. When the child is born, the Goddesses will take him for a month of our time and raise him in the Sacred Realm. A month in the Sacred Realm is the equivalent to eighteen years in our time. After a month, the child will have become of age and will have the power to defeat Gannondorf, and Hyrule will be safe again. Now, about the Cloak of Shadows…."

Link spoke up, "Wait, Zelda: you are telling me that I have to go through nine months of hell to save the world and then I don't even get to see my son grow up? That is ridiculous!"

Zelda went to Link, put her hands on his shoulders and held his eyes within hers, "I am sorry that this burden is being forced on you Link, I truly am. I wish that there was another way, but this was out only course of action."

Link got mad. He pushed her hands away, and said,

"Zelda, I have never raised my voice to you because you are my princess and I love you; but HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME? I GAVE YOU MY HEART, MY LOVE, AND MY SERVICE AND THIS IS MY PAYMENT? YOU TREAT ME LIKE A BROOD MARE? I AM SO MAD I COULD….uh…I could…oh, God…"

He passed out again, and once again I caught him before he hit the floor. Zelda and Midna had tears shining in their eyes. They both knew that it was unfair to treat the Hero of Hyrule in such a fashion, and now he might be in some danger because of his temper. As I picked up the unconscious Hero and carried him to Zelda's chambers, Zelda looked at me and said,

"Christina I am so sorry that we had to force this on you as well. Please don't think ill of us."

"I understand that the actions were necessary, but now because of them Link could be in danger because of his little rant there. Not only that, none of us but you know anything about the Cloak of Shadows. We all need to know, and Link can't now. Let's get him better first, and then please tell the rest of us what the Goddess told you."

Zelda and Midna hastily agreed with me, and once we got to Zelda's chambers, she set to work on him. After saying a few words of healing Link came to himself and saw Zelda's face. He turned stony and cold even though Zelda's words were gentle and kind.

"Link, I need to make sure the baby is alright. Can you please remove your tunic?"

Link's face hardened at the word "baby" but he did as he was told. After a quick inspection of his abdomen, Zelda looked at me and said,

"The child is alright. Link's body could not take the stress of being that angry, and that is why he blacked out. Apparently, whenever Link was impregnated his body was weakened and now can only take a fraction of what it used to. The process works very quickly."

"Great," Link said, "Can you please just tell us what the Goddess told you about the Cloak of Shadows so I can start saving the world?"

Zelda and Midna both looked at him sadly, "The Cloak is a form of very Dark Magic that was created whenever Hyrule was born. It allows its wearer to transcend between the realms of light and shadow. Even if all connection between the two worlds is destroyed it remains as the only one. This cloak also allows the wearer to manipulate the dreams of others, and that is why you both had such horrible dreams this evening. This is more powerful than you can imagine, as evidenced by that lovely black eye of yours, Christina. Think about having a wonderful dream one night. It buoys you through all the next day. If you have nothing but dark dreams filled with horror and nightmares you begin to lose hope and strength. However, the power of the Cloak goes beyond even this. Its wearer has the ability to not only make his enemies to see darkness and despair, but those who are innocent as well. Whole villages can be turned against a person that they have know and trusted their whole lives, for this cloak's wearer has the ability to manipulate waking thoughts as well as sleeping ones. The Cloak also acts like a shield deflecting any magic or physical weapon that was wielded by someone of pure, Hyrulian blood, so to get in a swordfight with him would be utterly useless. Finally, Gannondorf is the only one who can use it because only the one who bears the Triforce of Power has the actual power to wield and control it. However the Goddess has granted protection on this castle and it's grounds so no one here will be affected. The child of light and shadow must be born because it is that child alone that can transcend light and darkness as Gannondorf now can. However, his power will be a pure power; one born of the light, and that, Link, is why this child must come from your body; because you were born in the light and blessed by the Goddesses. We also needed you, Christina, because you were born of shadow, but also blessed by the Goddesses. The Goddess told me that power sleeps within you, and that power must be awakened."

I was in awe. I was blessed by the Goddesses of Hyrule? How could that be? I was a nobody, a stranger in a strange land, and certainly not in possession of any of the Triforces. I asked,

"Your Majesty, can you explain how I am blessed by the Goddesses, and how I need to awaken this 'power' or whatever it is?"

"I cannot because the Goddess informed me that it was something that you needed to discover for yourself, however she did tell me that you would find your power at the end of all things."

Ugh, were all divine beings full of riddles? Whatever, I had other things to do, like making sure that Link was okay. He had been sitting there the whole time listening to what Zelda had been saying, and had pulled his tunic back on while she was talking, but now that she was done I could tell that he wanted to be alone. I looked to him and to the Princesses and said,

"Your Majesties, I can't say that I understand everything that I am supposed to do, but I do believe I am beginning to understand when our Hero doesn't want anyone around. Perhaps we should continue this conversation elsewhere?"

Zelda and Midna looked at him, and quickly agreed with me. As we departed I heard Link call me,

"Christina?"

I turned around to face him, "Yes, Link?"

"Before you go, could I see you alone?"

I faced the princesses and said,

"I'll be there in a minute, just give me a sec?"

The princesses nodded and closed the door behind them. I approached Link and stood at his side.

"Please sit down," he said.

I did as he asked.

"Link, I am so, so sorry about this whole situation. My God! I have only known you two days, and I got you pregnant and now we have to save the world together."

Link just looked at me and said,

"Christina, I need you to promise me something."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Swear to me that you won't leave my side through this? I couldn't bear it if you left and I was standing here alone, pregnant, and about to give birth."

"Link, I won't leave you, I promise. Where would I go anyway? To Gannondorf? Like that would ever happen in a million years. I'll be right by your side through everything: the morning sickness, the mood swings, the swollen ankles, and even through some of the more pleasant experiences too."

"There are pleasant experiences in this?" Link asked sarcastically.

"Well," I replied, "Think about when the baby will start moving and you'll be able to feel it, or when you'll be able to tell when he's sleeping and awake, and when we'll be able to hear his little heart beat in a few weeks. That'll be kinda cool."

"I guess."

"I swear to you, my friend; I'm not going anywhere, but if I may give a little advice?"

"What?"

"Don't stay angry at Zelda and Midna too long: if this didn't happen, there might not be a Hyrule to save soon."

Link sighed and then gave a wry smile,

"I know you're right, but this is unfair. Let me just stew over it a little while, and I'll be back to my heroic self soon enough. You'll see. I bounce back pretty quick."

I leaned over him, and gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead, and I felt his body soften under my touch. It was that simple act that allowed him to relax and a peaceful sleep to finally come over his exhausted body. I left him in his restful state and joined the Princesses outside.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey there fans. Here's chapter 4. Please keep reviewing and commenting. Thanks!**

I met the two Princesses outside of Zelda's chambers where Link had finally been able to get some rest. They looked at me and Zelda said,

"I think we all need some rest. I will be in the guest chamber for a while, as my bed is occupied. We will reconvene when we have all had some sleep and time to process our emotions a little."

I was so happy when Zelda said that because I was on the verge of passing out as Link had done a few minutes ago. I went back to my room and for the first time that day, I felt as if I could truly rest. It was not to be. I was, again, plagued by dreams of a terrible nature the whole time I was sleeping, and I could do nothing about it. All that day, my mind was filled with images of horror and death; the bodies of the citizens of Hyrule surrounded me, the bodies of my family surrounded me, and worst of all somehow I knew it was my fault. I was the blame for this destruction, and the whole time a dark figure shadowed me; leering at me with malice. I finally awoke, and when I woke I prayed that I would find myself in my own room, with my own body, and with my old skills. I was thoroughly disappointed: I awoke in Hyrule castle with the knowledge that a responsibility of some kind was about to be thrust on me this afternoon, I could do nothing to stop it. I thought back to my dreams, and wondered why I was even having them. Didn't Zelda say that the Goddess had granted protection over this castle and it's grounds? Was I affected in some way the others were not? So many questions suddenly came to my mind: Why did I look the way I did now? Why did I find weapons in my room, and what was this 'power' that I had to find at "the end of all things?" I was in utter despair. I had questions I needed answering, and I needed those answers soon. At that point, a porter came into my room and said,

"Princess Zelda and Princess Midna request your presence in the library in forty-five minutes, my lady."

"Thank you, sir. I'll be there directly"

The porter bowed, and left. I put my clothes on, and gave myself a once-over in the mirror. My eyes were all puffy from exhaustion, but I was otherwise presentable. I looked at my ears again, as they were the most odd feature that was on my body. I was not used to having pointed ears, and they were unusual to behold. After looking at them for a few minutes I turned around to make my way to the library, but I was stopped: the dark figure from my dreams stood in front of me blocking my way! It was just a shape or shadow, but it seemed more solid than a shadow. The thing reached out for my throat, and just as the fingers closed to crush my neck, it disappeared. Okay, now I was truly scared. I ran for the library hoping to find someone, anyone in that space. I ran through the library door and slammed it behind me scaring the two princesses that had already arrived and were waiting for me.

"Christina? Good heavens, you look like you've seen a ghost!" said Midna.

"I'm not so sure that I didn't."

The princesses shared a questioning look, and asked me to clarify. I told them about the thing in my room, and that it had scared me so bad that I had run to the library, and that I was sorry for slamming the door. Midna got up from her chair, took my arm and led me to a chair. There was a piping hot cup of tea waiting there for me, and once I drank it I felt a little better and felt like I could go on with my questions. Zelda asked me,

"Do you feel a little better now?"

"Yes, your Majesty."

"Good, then. Now, we wanted to speak with you alone because up until this point we have mainly been focused on Link, but we wanted to give you time to talk about what you are feeling as well. Please ask us anything that you want to know, and we will do our best to answer."

"Okay, why was that thing in my room? I thought that the castle was armed against the Cloak and it could not touch us here, yet I continue to have dark dreams and then that thing? Do I have some connection to Gannondorf or the Cloak that I don't know about?"

Midna replied,

"We don't know about why a dark shadow would show up in your room, and pantomime trying to kill you. It could very well be that you have some kind of deeper connection to the Cloak, and the shadow could be sending you a message. This a new development and one that Zelda and I must research."

"Okay," I said.

I still wanted to know what that thing was, because I didn't want it coming back. But on to my other questions:

"Um, why do I look the way I do now?"

Once again Midna spoke up,

"Ahh, that was my doing. You see, because you are not Hylian, you needed a body that we were sure would survive in this place. I cast a spell on you when you passed through the doorway, which made your outer appearance change as well as some of your physical and mental skills and abilities. You now have the abilities to use a sword and shield, bow and arrow, and the ability to ride horses like an expert. You just need a little practice."

That was one of the coolest things that had ever happened to me. I had always wanted to have those abilities, but had never had the time, money, or even the opportunity to take them.

"Awesome," I said, "But that still doesn't answer why I found a sword and shield in my room. Am I going to get in a fight with someone?"

Zelda replied, "We wanted to make sure that you were armed. You never know what might happen, and then if your enemy is armed and you are not, we have lost a hero. Like Midna said, you just need a little weapon's practice."

"Proactive training: good idea, but why me? Of all the girls in my entire world, you picked me. Why?"

It was here that Zelda held my eyes within hers and she said,

"We didn't choose you, you had already been chosen. You see, you possess a certain connection to the kingdom of Hyrule and you are the only person in the entire world that has that connection. That is what I meant by you being blessed by the Goddesses. It is you that they gave that power to, and no one else can possess it."

"I was divinely chosen like you and Link?"

"Yes."

"Wow. That's nothing short of incredible; and I guess it is because I was chosen that you were able to make the changes to my body when I passed through the door. Huh. Okay, so I'm a divinely chosen Hero. What do I need to do, what monsters do I need to fight, and what people do I need to befriend to accomplish my goals?"

Zelda and Midna looked at each other and laughed. Then Zelda said,

"Oh, Christina. Yours will be a more personal adventure. Granted, you will need to go and meet the inhabitants of Hyrule, and perhaps perform a few heroic acts, but in the end the salvation of Hyrule ultimately rests on the shoulders of your survival and the survival of your son. I do not fully understand it myself as the Goddesses are full of riddles, but all shall be made clear I'm sure, it usually is. In the meantime, what other questions do you have?"

"I just need to know more about that Cloak, and whether or not I've got some kind of connection to either it or to Gannondorf. I would love a night where my dreams aren't disturbed by images of my family and friends strewn about me on a battlefield, dying, and knowing that it was my fault and having this dark thing leering at me."

Zelda and Midna looked at me questioningly,

"You had the same dream twice in a row?"

"Yeah, and I would like to not have it again."

"Huh, interesting. Christina, will you please excuse us? Midna and I must discuss a few things, and we will get back with you as soon as we have some answers to your mysterious experiences. They are not normal, especially since the Goddesses have given protection over these grounds. In the meantime, will you please go check on Link and make sure he is alright?"

"Of course, your Majesty."

"Thank you; and Christina…thank you for being understanding about this whole situation. I realize that it is not easy for you."

"Believe it or not, your Majesty I am happy to have an adventure like this. It is something that I have always dreamed of."

Zelda smiled at me, and I took my leave. I made my way back to Zelda' s room to make sure that Link was all right. When I got there, I knocked on the door, and the voice inside said,

"Who is it?"

"It's me: Christina."

"Come in."

I entered the room, and found Link lying in bed relaxing and looking more like himself. I asked him,

"Hey, did you have any bad dreams last night?"

"No, in fact my dreams were quite peaceful and I finally got some rest."

"Yeah, you look like it."

I sat there for a minute not speaking and then I piped up,

"I had a long talk with Zelda and Midna just a few minutes ago."

"Do you wish to talk about it?"

"They told me that I was divinely chosen by the Goddesses, and that I was destined to be a Hero like you; well I guess the correct term would be 'Heroine.' I just need some sword practice, and I'll be as good as you."

"Well, would you like to get started?"

"You want to teach me?"

"Well, if you are destined to be a Hero, you might as well be taught by one, right?"

"I guess."

"Come on; let's go get some armor on and go cross blades. I need a good workout anyway."

I smiled at him and said, "Okay, but don't overexert yourself."

"I'll be fine, now let's go."

I was going to be taught how to fight by Link: the Hero of the Light! I could barely contain my excitement, as learning how to use a sword was something I had always wanted to do. We got to the practicing field and Link showed me how to handle my sword. He did not use the Master Sword to practice with me, as I was not an enemy, and it did not need to go that far. However, I could not help but asking,

"Ummm, Link, you don't want to use the Master Sword?"

'This is a practice session, and not real battle. When I choose to fight you as if you were my enemy, then I will use the Master Sword."

Ooooo, there was going to be a Final Exam! I couldn't wait!

For the next couple of hours, Link and I practiced with our swords, but all too soon, Link's 'condition' made itself apparent again. He got a little nauseous.

"Ugh, hold on Christina; I don't feel well."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah just a little…uh…. oh, God!"

He ran to the bushes, and he experienced his first bout of morning sickness. It happened later in the evening, but who cares. I dropped my blade, and ran over to help him.

"Link! Are you all right?"

He couldn't even speak as he was in the middle of retching, but as soon as he finished emptying the contents of his stomach, he looked up at me and said,

"I…I think…that's enough practice for one day. Ugh. Why did my stomach turn like that?"

"Well, I think you just got your first experience of morning sickness."

"'Morning?' But it's almost 7 in the evening!"

"People experience it differently," I explained, "Let's go see Zelda and see if she's got anything that can help."

"Okay, let's…. ugh, hang on," he turned his attention back to the bushes.

Poor guy. It was a little early to be getting any kind of morning sickness I thought, but then again this was an enchanted pregnancy, and anything was possible when magic was involved. After Link finished making his prayers to the plants, I helped him up and wrapped an arm around his waist.

"Come on, let's go see about that remedy."

He said nothing. He was uncomfortable and sick, and I could do nothing to help him except offer encouragement. Once we got to the castle, I asked the guard to get a message to Princess Zelda, and that we needed to see her. The guard was off to deliver the message, and Link sat down on the stone steps to try to get his bearings. Soon, Zelda met us outside and I said,

"Link just got his first taste of morning sickness, " I hastily explained, "Is there some kind of remedy that will help?"

"I know just the thing," said Zelda, "Come with me."

She took us to the little clinic that was in the castle, and she picked up a small vial with some kind of scarlet-purple liquid in it. When she opened it, the smell from that vial was instantaneous, and it smelled, in my opinion, like a hunk of Limburger cheese had mated with a skunk, and then rolled around in something dead for a week. It was utterly disgusting, and poor Link threw up again as soon as the stench hit his nostrils. Zelda said,

"I know that this smells like death, but it will help you to feel better, and believe it or not it tastes better than it smells. Link looked at her like she was crazy, but being the Hero that he was he was accustomed to dealing with things like this and was as fearless as always. He downed the scarlet liquid, but made a really bad face while he drank it.

"Blech!" he exclaimed after it was gone and he had rinsed his mouth out, "I thought you said this stuff tasted better than it smelled!

'It does," said Zelda, "You'll feel better in a little while, but expect more of those doses if your sickness persists. Christina, you have had some medical training in your own world, yes?"

"A little, but not much to boast at."

"But enough to know when to recognize certain symptoms and to remind our Hero to take his medicine."

"Yes, your Majesty."

"Very well then. I'll leave him in your capable hands. I'll check on you in a while, and Link I need you to see me every week so I can check your progress."

Link was still angry with Zelda for being put into this situation in the first place, but he replied,

"Okay Zelda. I'll do everything I'm supposed to, but do me a favor: the next time Hyrule needs to be saved, ask me first."

"As you wish, my green-clad prince," said Zelda.

She leaned over him, tilted his chin up so he looked her in the eyes, and placed a kiss upon his lips. It was a kiss of true love, and Link responded by gently touching her cheek to bring her in closer to his lips. She pulled away from him, and left us alone. I looked at Link and said,

"See? She does love you. You don't kiss a person like that unless you are truly in love with them."

"I know she loves me, and I her," he replied.

"So, ummm, after we, you know, save the world and everything, you gonna marry her?"

He remained thoughtful and after a minute he replied,

"I don't know. This is a pretty unforgivable act, I mean; it's not even her… baby that I'm carrying: it's yours."

I stepped in front of Link and I placed my hand on his belly.

"This baby is the only connection that you have to me, but you have had a much more intimate and loving connection with the Princess. She loves you dearly and it is killing her that you are so angry with her actions."

Link placed hand over mine on his belly and said,

"That may be so, but this is still OUR child, and it is my firstborn. I'm just sad that it had to be this way. I never expected to have a baby with a complete stranger from another world."

"I know, I didn't expect my firstborn to be brought into the world this way either, much less not even being able to raise him. However, maybe this is a blessing in disguise."

"How?"

"Well, if not for this baby, I never would have met my favorite Hero, or get him to teach me how to use a sword, much less have a chance to save the world. These things may be commonplace for you, but it is something that someone like me only dreams of. Because of this baby, I have the chance to make something of myself and make friends with royalty and legendary heroes. I couldn't ask for a better honor than that."

"Well said, Christina. Well said. However, if you will excuse me, I am feeling rather tired, and in need of some sleep."

"Link… I… good night."

What else could I say? He was still hurt, so I let him be and I went to my own room feeling a myriad of emotions. I was excited that I was learning how to use a sword and was picking up the skill rather quickly, and Link promised to teach me how to use a bow and arrow next, and then how to fight from horseback! That was going to be an adventure in and of itself. I was also looking forward to meeting everybody in Hyrule, and getting to know some of the different cultures that were here. But then again, I was also sad. Sad for Link and Zelda; this baby may have permanently damaged their relationship. Even though it was necessary, I could see the hurt in Zelda's face as well. She had had to betray her love, and it was killing her. I couldn't think anymore. I was too tired and sore from fighting all day. Once again I tried to sleep, but just as I drifted off that THING appeared in front of me again! The dark shadow-shape floated above me, and I could tell that whatever it was it wanted me dead. It was only there for a second, but I was not going to stay alone in that room tonight. I rushed out of my bed, and ran straight to Link's room. I didn't even bother knocking; I was too frightened. Link wasn't asleep yet, and was shocked to even see me there. I looked at him and said,

"I am not staying alone tonight."

"Christina, what…?"

I surprised him even further, when I jumped on the bed, got beneath the sheets, and hid my head under the covers. Link tried to pry the blankets away from me, but I stubbornly refused to let go and I simply said again,

"I am not staying alone tonight, Link! Something wants me dead!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi, fellow Zelda fans. Here's Chapter 5. Please Read and Review, thanks!**

Link was finally able to pull the blankets away from my face, and the look that he beheld in my eyes was one of sheer terror. In all his days, he had never seen anyone look as frightened as I did in that moment.

"Christina, will you please tell me what is going on? Why in the world are you so scared?"

"Something in that room wants me dead, and I can't even touch it! Please, Link! Don't make me go back there to spend the night alone! Please!"

I broke down in tears. It was the first time that Link had seen me cry, and he held me and said,

"Okay, okay, you don't have to go back. If there is something after you, I will protect you."

Thank heavens for this man. I clung to him like my life depended on it, and refused to let him go. I sobbed into his shoulder feeling less and less heroic and more and more like a coward. I was terrified of a shadow: a SHADOW! Something that was supposed to be benign! After about half an hour of crying, I finally went to sleep. I could find no rest again. It was the same dream: bodies of the dead and dying strewn across a battlefield, all of them my friends and family; Link lying at my feet heavily pregnant and dead, that shadow full of malice leering, and the knowledge that the destruction was my fault. This time, I fell to my knees and put the blade of my sword to my own heart, but I was awoken to Link, Midna and Zelda shaking me and shouting my name. I looked at the kind faces surrounding me, and broke down into tears again.

"I'm not safe anywhere!" I cried, "Not even in a place where the Goddesses themselves have granted protection!"

Link held me, looked at the two princesses and said,

'This cannot continue. She is plagued by something in her dreams and in her waking hours. It is as the Goddess said, Zelda: this Cloak is more powerful than we can imagine. She must have some kind of connection to it; otherwise this would not keep happening."

Zelda replied,

"I agree. Christina, come with me; we are going to make sure that this does not happen again."

I allowed Zelda to take me from Link's strong arms and lead me back to the observatory. Zelda looked at me and said,

"I'm not entirely sure that this will work again, but it seems to be our only option at this point."

Once again, she took her quiver and pulled an Arrow of Light from it. She shot it into the sky where it mingled with the sun's first rays of daylight and the glimmer turned into a ray which beamed into the ossuary again. The Goddess appeared before us once again, and Zelda said,

"Goddess of Hyrule, our Heroine from the other world is still troubled with nightmares and has begun to see a dark figure when she is alone and awake. She feels as though this shadow wants her dead. Can you explain this, please?"

"I will not explain why, but I will ensure that your dreams are peaceful from now until your son is born. Because you are the only one who continues to have these dreams, it tells me that the bearer of the Cloak of Shadows can move differently with you. He has defied our authority for the final time, and he will meet his end very soon. Now, sleep child. Sleep and do not be afraid any longer." Then the Goddess turned to Zelda,

"Bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, I will speak to you alone now."

Zelda said,

"As you wish, Excellency. Christina retire to your room and get some rest. When you awake, I will let Link know so you can continue your training."

"Yes, your Majesty."

I left the room desperate for some sleep, but on my way to my room I was thinking. This Cloak of Shadows had some kind of secret behind it that someone did not want me to know about. Both Link and I suspected that I had some kind of connection to it, however what that connection was I didn't understand. Hyrule was full of mysteries, and the Goddesses of Hyrule were full of even more mysteries. Eh, whatever. I would think about more after I got some rest. I found the room, went inside, and took off my clothes and went to bed. Finally, my dreams were good. I saw nothing of the horror that had ravaged the landscape of my mind earlier. I was riding a horse over a green meadow, and there were people everywhere shouting my name. I brought up my horse and it reared on its hind legs. I drew my sword in some kind of victory and held it up for all to see. The crowd shouted my name, and I knew that I was loved by the masses. Then I dismounted my horse, and approached a throne that was set beneath a magnificent tent in the middle of the meadow. Two attendants stood on either side of me with a crown and a scepter. I was crowned and given the scepter, and all the people cheered. Best of all, my family was there to see me for the coronation. I felt buoyed by good feelings, but then I received a surprise. Something outside of my dreams touched me. I slowly awoke and looked around the room to find out what it was. Then I looked next to me….and gasped,

"OH MY GOD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY BED!"

"ME! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY BED?"

I had been so out of it, that I didn't even realize whose room I had stepped into and got naked in. Link was lying beside me, and from the looks of it, he was naked too; at least from the waist up. When I realized my mistake, I turned beet red and said,

"Oh, my God! I am so sorry! I….I…I'm just going to….uh….oh, man. Don't look at me!"

I jumped out of bed, gathered my clothes, put them on, and ran to my own room. That may have been the single most embarrassing experience of my life, and one that I hoped not to repeat. What if Zelda found out? She would probably think that I was trying to seduce him; or worse: what if Midna found out? She was never known for being the quietest of people. Then my worst nightmare: Midna appeared in front of me from the shadows in my room.

"I saw that."

"Midna, please! It was a mistake, I wasn't even paying attention; I was too tired!"

"Oh, please; I haven't had that good of a laugh since this whole endeavor began. Don't worry, I won't tell Zelda."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"But you have to do something for me."

"Ummmm, okay?"

"Bow to me."

"Huh?"

She changed into that Thing.

"Midna?"

"No."

The Shadow-Shape got close to me and I heard a deep voice full of hatred and evil emerge from it.

"The Goddesses may have taken away my power to manipulate your dreams, but I can still visit you while you are awake. So, here are your choices: bow to me and claim me as your master, and I let your precious 'Hero' live. If not, when my full power is given to me, I will kill him, and your son." I will give you until the time when your child is born to make your decision, and believe me: time is short."

The Thing dissipated like smoke, and I was left standing alone more mystified and more terrified then I had ever been. It knew! It knew that Link was pregnant, and it knew that I was the mother. How? Then it dawned on me: I had known that the bearer of Cloak was Gannondorf, but what I hadn't realized up until that point was that the Cloak gave him the power to spy. The dreams of seeing Link dead at my feet before he had given birth: it made me realize that he had known all along about everything: the prophecy, who his Destroyer was and even who the parents of his Destroyer were. Not only that, I finally understood what is was that kept frightening me while I was alone: Gannondorf's spirit, shadow, inner whatever you want to call it, since he had that Cloak, he was truly all-powerful. He could send part of himself to terrify and spy on me! Just then Link came into my room and said,

" Christina…about what happened earlier….."

"Link! Come on; we gotta talk to the Princesses!"

"Uh…okay?"

I grabbed his arm, spun him around running and hurriedly asked,

'Where is Zelda at this time of day, usually?"

"Probably in the library, but why….?

I cut him off,

'I'll explain when we get there."

I continued to pull him along and when we got to the library, I pulled open the doors and found Zelda and Midna talking about something. They gave me a questioning look, and before they could say a word to me I burst out with,

"Gannon knows everything!"

"Christina, what are you talking about, and will you please release my arm?" exclaimed Link.

"Oh, sorry Link. Anyway, Gannon knows about everything: Link's pregnancy, my being from another world, and what we are planning."

Zelda asked,

"How do you know these things?"

When I explained what had just happened in my room, Zelda said something interesting,

"So he said, 'when his FULL power is given to him?' That means that he is not as powerful as we assumed him to be."

"But it also means that he has the power to take on shapes that are not his own," I said, "His power is growing."

Just then, Link made us all forget about Gannon, by having another bout of morning sickness. I hadn't even seen him turn pale, as my focus had been on the two Princesses. Poor guy tossed his cookies into a wastebasket next to him, and me and Zelda ran to him.

"I'm alright," said Link, "I have been dealing with this all day, I don't think that vile-smelling medicine worked very well, nor did that little run down the corridor sit with me, Christina."

"Ahh, Christina; would you…"

"Yes, your Majesty."

I took Link back down to the infirmary, and found that vial of the scarlet-purple liquid that Zelda had used. This time, though, we were both wiser and pinched our noses shut before I opened the top.

"Ech, what's in this stuff anyway?" I mused

'I don't know, and I don't want to know." Link retorted quite vehemently after he had downed the foul-smelling liquid.

"Hey, Link?"

"Yeah?"

"Um, do me a favor, and please don't tell Princess Zelda about what happened earlier. That was really embarrassing, and I don't want her to get the wrong idea."

"Don't worry about it, I was going to ask you the same thing when you grabbed my arm and started pulling me towards the library."

"Oh, geez, did I hurt you?"

'You, hurt me? Don't make me laugh. I've dealt with far worse things than having a pretty girl yank my arm."

I was floored by that statement.

"You…you really think I'm pretty?"

"Well….yeah."

I wasn't sure how to respond, so I giggled like an idiot. Aw, man! So much for being calm and heroic. Link took my hands and said,

"I do think you are a very pretty girl, and any man would be lucky to have you."

Oh, how I wanted to kiss him in that moment. But I didn't; he wasn't mine, no matter how much I may have wanted him, he was simply not mine. I could tell he liked me though, and that was what made this even more difficult.

"Link, I think it would be a good idea if we went outside on the practice field and you showed me how to fight some more."

"Oh, okay. Well then, let's go."

He led me onto the field, and took his sword in hand. After a few more hours of practice with the blade, Link motioned for me to stop.

"What is it?"

"You are ready."

He dropped the blade he was holding and pulled from the scabbard on his back the Master Sword. He brandished it against me and said,

I will fight you now as if you were my enemy. I will not kill you, but I will fight as though I mean to kill you. Pick up your sword and shield and prepare to defend yourself."

Final exam time was upon me? Now? Oh, Man! I moved into the defensive stance like Link had shown me, and then it began. He fought me with the expertise and grace of a warrior. Every step was like courting death with a waltz. Any step could have been my last, but I was not frightened. I fought back with all the ferocity and viciousness that would need to be expected of me in a real battle. Blue eyes met brown ones; teeth were bared at each other with all the animalistic passion that went into any battle. The clang of swords rang that through the field, and the flash of sparks that flew from the blades was akin to the thunder and the lightning of a raging storm. As we dueled we began to attract a bit of a crowd. Soon, even Zelda and Midna came to watch the test. Some of the crowd cheered my name, some cheered Link, but I never lost my focus. Soon, Link got cocky and made a foolish move. I took the opportunity to fake him out a little bit by thrusting my blade towards his chest, then with the quick flash of the wrist, I flicked him on his wrist, and I knocked the sword out of his hands and held my blade to his throat.

"Well, done!" said Link, "I can now call you my equal in swordsmanship. You pass your test."

The small crowd wildly erupted in applause and cheering: even the two Princesses who had been looking on with interest gave their approval by throwing a few flowers onto the field. I had done it! I was a master of the sword, and I had been taught by the best of the best. Of course I also realized that the magic that Midna had placed on me played a huge part of it, but I could fight now. Link approached me and said,

"Tomorrow we begin practice with the bow and arrow. Sleep well, and do not let foul dreams plague you this night."

"I won't, my friend. Thank you."

I left him on the field and went to take a bath and then I snuggled down amongst the sheets and blankets on MY bed and slept peacefully for the first time since I had been pulled into Hyrule


	6. Chapter 6

**Here is Chapter 6! Please Review.**

**I'd like to know if the fans are pleased with my story so far**

Over the next two months, my training got more intense. Link proved himself to be a masterful teacher, and I greatly improved under his patient tutelage: well, as patient as he could be. He had begun to experience mood swings. Out of nowhere, if I missed the target he would erupt in anger, compose himself, and apologize to me for the outburst. After I had mastered the bow, both Link and I were feeling a little tired of each other. We needed a break from everything: training, worrying about the fate of Hyrule, and, yes, even each other. We were starting to get persnickety with each other, and so we both agreed to take a break from training the next day. That morning, I woke up looking forward to a stroll around Castle Town. I got dressed and headed out for the day. As much as I was having fun learning how to be a Hero, I was in no hurry to draw a sword or arrow that day. I headed into Castle Town and began looking into the shops and café's that surrounded the square. I met quite a few interesting people in the town, but my favorite was when I walked into the bar over on the South Road of the Town. The bartender was an old favorite of mine from the game: Telma. She was so cool. She took one look at me when I walked into the bar and said,

"Ahh, Hyrule's newest Hero! Welcome, welcome!"

She wrapped in a big hug like she had known me for years, and told me to sit down at a table. She brought me a big mug of some kind of alcoholic beverage that I had never seen before, and not being much of a drinker, I couldn't handle more than a sip at a time. Nonetheless, Telma sat with me and listened to all of my stories of training and how I had come to Hyrule in the first place. I was careful not to mention Link's 'condition' as I am sure he did not want all of Hyrule knowing about it. Even so, she was interested in him, as he had come to her rescue before. I knew that I could trust her as she had endeavored to keep the safety and peace in Hyrule during the whole Twilight incident. If not for her, many lives would have been lost. She made me promise that I would bring Link to the bar again soon, and I left feeling like I had been accepted as part of a bigger family. I was checking into the shops after I left the bar to see if there was anything that I could get for Link that might make him feel better, when I was suddenly hit with what felt like a pile driver to my ribs and thighs! I looked down to see what freight train had hit me, and to my surprise it was a little girl! I was floored. This girl had come from nowhere it seemed and was crying her eyes out. She looked up at me and said,

"Please, can you help me?"

"What's wrong, sweetie?"

"My daddy: he's hurt! Please, you have to come and help him!"

"Okay, calm down. How is your daddy hurt? Tell me what happened."

She looked up through tears and replied,

"M…my…my daddy was (sob)…working in the fields (sob)…and something dark and shadowy came from somewhere and it hurt him! I ran to him, but he wouldn't wake up and…and…"

She didn't finish as she broke down into tears again. We had a problem. Again. So much for relaxation. Oh well, duty calls.

"What's your name, sweetie?"

"L….Luda."

Luda? Renado's daughter? Oh, crap: we were in serious trouble. Renado was the shaman of Kakariko Village to the west of Castle Town. If Gannondorf had hurt him, he was growing more powerful every day, and soon he would be able to affect all of Hyrule. It was time for action, and we needed to start in Kakariko Village. I looked down to little Luta and said,

"Don't worry; we're going to make sure you're daddy gets help. Come with me back to the castle and we'll make sure that you are taken care of."

Luda nodded at me, and she allowed me to pick her up and I ran towards the castle doors. Once I reached them, the guard allowed me passage and I ran towards the library where I knew that Zelda probably was. We were halted halfway there by that Shadow-Shape. It looked at us, and the voice from it said,

"You see: I can topple one of the most powerful shamans in Hyrule. You are not immune to my power, and soon it will overwhelm you, Christina. Do not forget what I told you: time is short and you have less of it everyday."

It dissipated with an evil laugh leaving Luda and I alone, and the poor child was sobbing into my shoulder with terror. I ran the rest of the way feeling the same terror, but I could net let it show for the sake of the girl I held in my arms. I opened the doors to the library, and I did indeed find Zelda there. I looked at her and said,

"The shaman of Kakariko Village has been hurt, and this is his daughter: Luda. Zelda, I am sorry for the intrusion, but will you look after her while Link and I go to Kakariko Village to inspect the damage?"

"Of course, Christina. Please take this with you, it will help."

She handed me a small leather pouch that contained some kind of medicine.

"If he drinks it, he will be restored, and then I will send the child back to the village with an armed escort. Hurry, he may not have much time left."

"Thank you, your Majesty. By the way, where is Link right now?"

"I believe I saw him in the stables, last, taking care of Epona."

"Thank you, your Majesty."

I left the little girl in Zelda's care, and I took off towards the stables. I did indeed find Link there, and I said,

"Link time to saddle up and hit the road-we've got a problem in Kakariko Village that needs our attention."

One look at me, and Link could tell that I meant business. He took Epona out of her stall, and quickly saddled her. I took the horse that I had used before, and we took off for the Village. While we were riding, Link asked me,

"What's going on in Kakariko Village?"

"Renado was hurt. His daughter showed up in Castle Town and plowed into me, and she explained everything."

I told him what Luda had told me, and Link urged Epona on all the more quickly. It took longer than I thought to reach the Village. I had a feeling that there would be more to this world other than what I could see on the map. After all, every game has a background that you cannot penetrate, but actually being here made it possible to travel outside the range of the map. Even with the extra space we took the shortest route through Hyrule Field, and made out way through a pass that led into the Village. It took us nearly 2 hours to get there, as we had to let our horses rest at a walk for a while before we made them run again. When we got there, we were greeted by a few of some of the strangest creatures I had ever beheld: Gorons. They looked like they were made of solid rock, and had a skin tone that was similar to the color of sulfur, but I already knew that these were kind and gentle creatures that were willing to lend a hand; or so I thought:

"HALT! NONE MAY PASS THIS WAY!"

I looked at Link and he looked to me then to the Goron and said,

"Brother, we have come to give aid to the shaman of the Village. We come at the behest of Princess Zelda, herself."

'I don't care, human! I have my orders and you cannot pass."

Link dismounted his horse and pulled from his magic pouch a pair of iron boots. Uh-oh, trouble.

"Uh, Link I don't think that's a good…"

"Silence from you, Christina! I will wrestle you for the right to pass, my friend."

The Goron looked on in surprise that a challenge would come from a tiny Hylian such as this.

"As you wish; if you can best me I'll let you pass, if not you depart and I don't want to see you or the girl ever again."

"We are agreed. Shall we begin?"

The Goron got a look of anticipation. Once again, Link was blissfully unaware that what he was about to do could kill him. I jumped off my horse, and cried,

"LINK NO!"

"Christina, will you just be silent for once!"

"Link, your 'condition.' If you fight him it will probably kill you, because you hurt it."

Link stopped and looked at me in surprise.

"That could happen?"

"Easily; please don't do this."

"What am I supposed to do, then? I can't just leave."

"I'll do it," I said, "let me have the boots, and I'll do it."

The Goron listened to this strange conversation and said,

"Does the one dressed in green have a reason why he cannot fight?"

"Yes he does," I replied looking angrily at Link, "If he fights and gets hurt, he has a 'condition' that will probably kill him, and no fairy can return him to the land of the living if he dies from this 'condition.'"

"Ah, and you are willing to fight in his place so he does not get injured?"

"I am."

The Goron looked at us for a moment and then burst out laughing,

"Hah hah hah hah hah! For all of that from a human female, I know you to be a friend. Please step through and help the human in the village. He is in dire need."

"Thank you, brother," both Link and I replied.

We passed him and made our way to Renado's house where we found three other Gorons guarding it. They saw us and looked very angry. Luckily, Link had a bit of a silver tongue,

"Brothers, we have come at the request of the injured one's daughter and from Princess Zelda. We bring medicine that will heal Renado, and allow him to walk amongst us again."

The Gorons appeared to understand and the biggest one approached us.

"If you have come to help the shaman, then only one of you may go. The other we keep here. If the shaman dies, then the person we keep also dies."

Link said,

"I will stay with the Gorons while you go help Renado, Christina. Then when you get back, I want to talk to you alone."

Link had a nasty frown on his face as I followed one of the other Gorons inside. He led me to a room where a gentle looking man lay on a bed looking very pale and sick. I approached him, and felt for a pulse,

"He is weak, but he is still with us," I said.

I pulled the medicine from the bag that Zelda had given me, and I gave it to Renado. Slowly, I managed to get the medicine down his throat, and with every swallow that he took he became more and more lively. His color returned, and he moved more on his own. When all the medicine was gone, Renado looked at me and said,

"Where is my daughter?"

"She is in Castle Town under the care of Princess Zelda."

He lay back on his pillow with relief and said,

"Thank the Goddesses. I was so afraid that something would happen to her."

"You taught her well, sir. Now get some rest, and I will tell the Gorons that you are safe."

Renado closed his eyes and fell into dreams, while I went with the Goron outside of the house. When we arrived outside, the Goron told the others that the shaman had been cured. Link looked at me with a scowl on his face that would have withered a field of corn. He said in an angry tone,

"Christina, follow me to the graveyard. I need to speak with you."

Oh boy. What line had I crossed? I followed Link up the hill behind Renado's house to the graveyard and when we got there Link wheeled around, crossed his arms on his chest and shouted,

'Never, and I mean never, disrespect me in front of someone like that again! That was totally out of line, I don't care what kind of condition I'm in; it is unacceptable to behave like that!"

I became defensive,

"If I didn't, you could have died, and then where would we be? The savior of Hyrule…"

He cut me off,

"I don't care! The Gorons are not a people that you trifle with, and you acted inappropriately!"

"I may have acted inappropriately, but because of my inappropriate actions, Renado is healed and we have the upper hand again."

Link just stared at me, red in the face, fuming, and then he threw his hands up and walked away from me in a huff. Wow; I didn't know that Link could get that angry. I knew I needed to apologize for acting the way I did, but his bad mood had put me in a bad mood and I didn't think I had really done anything wrong. God! Were all pregnant women like this? I practically save the guy's life by preventing him from getting crushed to death, save my unborn son's life from getting crushed to death, and this was my payment? A senseless shouting match that had ended with hurt feelings and unspoken insults? GYAH, MEN ARE INFURIATING, ESPECIALLY THE PREGNANT ONES! I kicked a tombstone, in pure frustration. All of my feelings were coming to a head, and I was angry: angry at Link for treating me like that, angry at Zelda for getting me into this situation in the first place, angry at Gannondorf for being the cause of all this, and angry at myself for not even being the Hero that I needed to be to save Hyrule. I sat down on the ground next to the tombstone I had just kicked, and apologized to the deceased for kicking his marker, and then I cried. I sobbed into my arms for the first time that was not in terror, but in stress. After a few minutes of this, I knew that tears would solve nothing, and I stopped. I dried my eyes and decided that I would go for a walk through the village to try to work off a few of my frayed nerves. On the outskirts of the village, that Thing stopped me again, but I just looked at it this time and said,

"I'm not in the mood for you; go away."

But it didn't. It stayed and it got very close to me which terrified me more than I would let it see and it said,

"Oh, my simple, weak disciple; already I can see you turning against each other. The Light will fall, and you will fall with it; and when you do, you will have no choice but to come to me. You can stop all of the terror and the fear now. Just claim me as your master, and I will ensure that the 'Hero's' death will be quick and painless."

I stood my ground against it and I said,

"I will never fall and turn to the darkness. I will help defeat you and you will come to ruin at the hands of my son. Be gone from me, and do not let me catch you in my dreams tonight. If I see you there, I will take up my blade and use it against you, foul monster!"

The thing left with a malicious laugh, and the parting words,

"We shall see, my disciple."

Oh, God that was scary, but useful. I had finally had a conversation with the Shadow-Shape that had been plaguing me. I needed to tell Link, even though I knew that he was still probably furious with me. I came back into the sight of the simple houses that made up Kakariko Village, and I found one of the Gorons there at the entrance to the pass that led to their home: Death Mountain. I asked him, if he knew where Link had gone, and the Goron pointed me in the direction of Renado's house. I went up to the door, took a deep breath, swallowed my pride, and knocked on the door. Renado answered it looking much better and more like himself than I had seen him since we got here. He looked at me and said,

"Link is in the cellar waiting for you. I am not going to deny that I have the feeling that the both of you are keeping some kind of secret from me, but I shall be patient and wait for you to tell me."

Huh, what an odd statement. I wonder what Link had told him. Anyway, I made my way to the middle of the floor and climbed down the netting that made up the ladder. I reached the bottom and found a dejected and still very pissed off, Link in the big room that he had found the Cannon to the Sky in. I approached him, and sat down beside him and said,

"I'm sorry for the way I behaved, Link. It was not my intention to disrespect you in any way; I simply didn't want to see you get hurt."

"Christina, I thank you for your concern, but I am not in need of it. I have been able to take care of myself just fine for a long time, and I am in no need of help when it comes to my own life."

"Oh, Link… (sigh)…alright, but can I ask a favor?"

"What?" he asked curtly.

"Can I please see your belly?"

He rolled his eyes and pulled up his tunic allowing me to get a good view of his abdomen. His abdominal muscles were beginning to disappear and give way to a soft curve like that of a smooth mirror than had been shaped by gifted hands. I placed my right hand on it, and I felt warmth flowing from his body. I said,

"This is the reason I did what I did, Link. This is my son as well as yours, and I did want to see harm come to him. I hope you can forgive me."

Link pulled his tunic back down over his slightly protruding stomach, sighed, and said,

"I forgive you, but if you ever do that again, it will come to a battle between you and me, and you had better hope that you emerge the victor."

"Okay, fine."

My temper slightly flared again at that comment, but I was going to chalk it up to hormones more than anything. At least we were still on some speaking terms. Link and I both took our rest at the inn in the village that night, in separate rooms of course, and of course, because I was outside of the castle, my dreams were ravaged again by that dark Shadow-Shape, only this time the landscape was different. I saw myself holding a wicked looking blade against a fiery sky. I held the blade against Link's throat, but then I moved the blade down to his belly. I held it there for a moment and I heard myself say,

'I will take the life of the one who was intended to take the life of my Master, and you will live with the knowledge that you failed, 'Hero!'"

I could only watch as I saw my dream-self grinning at poor Link with a smile that had no warmth. My eyes flashed with evil as I brought the sword down across his large, round stomach. Just as Link screamed in pain, I awoke to the Shadow-Shape in my room. Okay, now it was my turn to be furious. I grabbed my sword and shield from the side of my bed and attacked the Thing. Of course, my blade cut through it like there was nothing there but air. I wheeled around and shouted at the Thing,

"YOU BASTARD! HOW COULD YOU MAKE ME DO THAT? I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

I was never one for swearing, but I was truly pissed off. Gannon knew I was outside my protective shield, and therefore he knew that he could play with my mind again. After my little outburst, the Shadow-Shape dissipated again, and Link and a Goron rushed into my room to find out what in the world had happened. I looked at their faces, and I said,

"I need to get back to the castle. Now. Gannondorf was spying on me again and he knows that I am outside of the castle. I had a really bad dream Link. I was under the control of Gannondorf, and I could only watch myself as I….I….I cut our son from you."

I couldn't break into tears, not now. I just sat there on the bed pale and shaking with the memory of that all-too-real dream.

Link came over to me and sat next to me, and then he said

"Christina, I will be certain to get you back to the castle. Brother," he said to the Goron, "Can you please tell the stable boy to saddle our horses. We need to take our leave. I apologize for having to leave so soon, but this is an urgent matter."

"Of course, Brother," said the Goron, "I shall return when the task is complete."

The Goron left leaving me and Link alone. Link held me tight (he had apparently forgotten about our disagreement earlier or at least was saving it for another time) and asked me to relay all the details. I told him everything that had happened that day: the Thing on the outskirts of the town, and my dream. This was getting out of hand. Gannondorf wanted me for something. He had called me his 'disciple.' Weird enough in and of itself, and repulsive to boot. He obviously wanted or needed me for some big plan of his. I needed to figure this out, but first I had to get back to the Castle, and rest. After fifteen minutes, the Goron reappeared and informed us that our horses were ready. Me and Link grabbed our things and took off downstairs and made the two-hour journey back to the Castle.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey, please continue to read and review. It is much appreciated. Thank you.

Once Link and I made it back to the castle, I immediately found my room and fell into better dreams. All through the rest of the morning I slept without dreaming, which was peaceful in and of itself. I awoke that afternoon around two o'clock, and I was feeling better than I had been. I immediately knew that I needed to speak to Zelda, so I went looking for her. I found her, not in the library, but on the practice field doing some target practice with her bow. I approached her and said,

"Princess Zelda, I need to speak with you."

"Come and shoot some arrows with me, Christina. We will talk while we do some target practice."

Zelda drew another arrow, and nocked it to the string.

"So, how is your training coming along?"

As she released the arrow, I replied,

"My training is going fine, but I think my teacher is getting a dose of hormones that are too much for him to handle. We had a fight in Kakariko Village."

"Ahh, I see. Care to talk about it?"

I pulled an arrow from my quiver, put it to the string, and set the bow. Before I released it I said,

"Not really, your Majesty," and I let the arrow fly. It split Zelda's in two perfect halves.

"That is good marksmanship," she said, "Can you do that every time?"

"I'm not sure, your Majesty, I've never tried."

"Hmm, tell you what: I'll make you a little wager. If you can split my arrow again, I'll give you a gift."

Oh, so the Princess was a gambler. This could be interesting.

"You're on," I said.

She fired her arrow, and it hit a perfect bull's-eye. I drew my arrow, set the bow, and released the arrow. I split Zelda's arrow in two again.

"Well done, Christina. I suppose you deserved this gift from the beginning anyway, though."

She reached into her quiver, and pulled out something wrapped in paper. I quickly unwrapped it, and a long cloak unfurled. It was beautiful! It was a shimmering shade of midnight black and had a pattern of symbols in what appeared to be silver that I thought to be a language. Zelda explained,

"This cloak was made for you by the Goddesses. The pattern that you see is actually spells that guard the mind, and no blade or arrow can rend it. While you wear this, you can go outside of the castle, and go meet the rest of the inhabitants of Hyrule without having to worry about the possibility of the paralyzing nightmares that you have been experiencing"

I put on the cloak, and fastened the clasp. It fit me perfectly, and I suddenly felt as if my mind was more at ease than it had been since I had pulled into Hyrule.

"Thank you, your Majesty. This is something I truly needed."

"I know, and the Goddesses know. They will not abandon those who need their help, but this was not my doing. Midna was the one who made the suggestion. She went to the Twilight Realm and asked the Goddesses to make it. She is truly a blessing in this time of need."

"I can't thank you enough for this, your Majesty."

"Oh, Christina, stop with the formalities. Please just call me Zelda. 'Your Majesty' seems a bit impersonal now."

"Sorry. By the way, where is Midna? I haven't seen her for a while."

"She returned to the Twilight Realm to take care of the affairs of her own people for a while. If I have need of her I can always call her. Don't worry."

I smiled and said,

"Thank you again, Zelda. Now I have to go find the Father of my son, and knock some sense into his head. He may be fearless, but his fearlessness is going to get him into trouble if he is not careful."

"Christina, Link is not at the Castle. He said that he was going to see an old friend in town, but he didn't say who."

"Oh. Well, I suppose that if you like, I can take Luda back to her father?"

"No need. I sent her with a few of the soldiers earlier today. I am expecting the soldiers back by six."

"Okay, well then care for more target practice?"

"Actually, if you come with me, I have something else for you that I know you will like."

She smiled at me with an "I-know-something-you-don't-know" grin, and led me to her chambers in the castle. She reached into a trunk that was over in the far corner, and pulled out a set of clothes, bracers and boots. She handed them to me and said,

"I had these made for you, so you could go traveling as well as appear the Heroine that you are."

I took them, and I asked,

"May I go try these on, now?"

"Please do. I want to see how you look in them."

I went into the washroom and put on the clothes, arm gear and footwear. They were similar to Link's except mine were cut to flatter the female figure. The tunic matched the cloak that she had given me earlier, and it was colored a stunning shade of black that was akin to a starry midnight sky. I had everything that I needed to go and be a Hero now: sword, shield, bracers, footwear, tunic, and cloak. I came out of the washroom, and Zelda said,

"You just need one final touch."

She put in my hands the bridle that belonged to the horse that I had been borrowing with Zelda's permission.

"The horse that you have been using is now yours. Name him as you see fit."

"My horse's name is Cael. It is from an ancient language from my world known as 'Gaelic" and it means 'Victorious People.' I name him this in the hopes that we shall be in victory over the evil clutches of Gannondorf."

"He is well named, then. Go to your new companion, Christina. He waits for you in the stables."

Oh my GOD! I had my own horse! One dream after another was coming true for me, and this was a beast given to me by the ruler of Hyrule. I could scarcely believe my ears!

"Zelda, may I go for a ride alone?"

"He is yours to do with what you want. Go ahead and have some fun."

I almost squealed, but I didn't. I departed from Zelda with all the decorum I could muster and headed down to the stables where my horse was waiting for me. I saddled him up and put on the bridle, and then led him out to the entrance Hyrule field. I climbed on his back, and whispered to him,

"Your name is Cael, and you are mine. Come on, my friend: let's stretch our legs."

At those words, Cael reared on his hind legs, whinnied in what sounded like a horsy laugh, and took off at a full gallop. I felt weightless as my horse ran across the field. He was swift for one so big, and I felt as if I were being carried on the wings of the wind; at least I did until he pulled up abruptly for no apparent reason and I fell off. I narrowly avoided getting trampled as Cael pawed the ground and looked around nervously. His behavior got me on my guard. I pulled him up, and got back on him. I figured whatever was scaring him, I could at least make a quick get-away if it proved to be more than I could handle. The Shadow-Shape appeared right in front of my poor horse which spooked him so bad that he took off at a run! He was ignoring my commands, and I was barely able to keep ahold of my seat. Somehow I managed to stay on, but Cael was scared. I whispered encouragement to him as I tried to bring him up, and finally I was able to get him to calm down enough to where he would listen to me. He was still spooked, but I was able to see where he had taken us. I had no idea where I was. The surroundings did not look familiar to me, and it was beginning to get dark. I urged Cael forward towards a long bridge that seemed promising, and once we had crossed it, we came upon a spring that stood in the middle of the wood and had a little waterfall behind it. Then it dawned on me that Cael must have carried me to the Ordona Province: Link's village. Before I urged Cael any further, I remembered from the game that if you were injured and stood in the water, your wounds were healed. I wondered if the same could be done for Cael's nerves. I led him into the cool water, and it seemed to work. He became much softer to the rein, and I had better control. After a few minutes, I took him out of the water and continued to follow the path until I reached a house whose front door could only be reached by ladder as it was perched on top of a lift of some kind. The sign next to it said,

"Link's House"

Huh. I was tempted to go climb the ladder, but I figured I wouldn't want anyone entering my house without permission so I didn't. Instead I dismounted Cael and led him into the village. There I was met by a lovely sight: four or five kids playing with toy swords and slingshots and playing at being a hero. I heard them get into an argument,

"I wanna be Link!"

"You were Link last time! It's my turn!"

"No, it's mine!"

Then a voice,

"CHILDREN!"

A man's head appeared from a window and he said,

'If you can't decide, you can all come inside and do your homework. Colin, you're falling behind."

"Yes, dad."

The man noticed me, and came outside. He was a little taller than me, and had a beard and moustache that kind of reminded me of a pirate. He came up to me and said,

"Hello stranger. I have never seen you before, are you from around here?"

"No, sir. My horse got spooked, and this is where I was finally able to get him to calm down. I apologize for any intrusion I may have caused."

"None at all; you just reminded me of someone who lives here. You are dressed a little like him."

"Oh, you mean Link? Yeah, we're friends."

"You know Link? Personally?"

"Yes sir and you should know that he is just fine and is at Hyrule Castle right now with Princess Zelda."

"Well, this is a surprise. What is your name, dear?"

"Christina."

"I'm Rusl. I used to teach Link the sword, and any friend of his is a friend to Ordon. Come inside and meet my wife. Colin, say goodbye to everyone and come inside. It's dinner time."

"Okay dad. See you later everybody!"

I followed Rusl inside, and I met his wife, who was a pretty, blond lady with short hair. She was holding an infant that looked to be no more than a few months old. Rusl went over to them and kissed them both, and then we sat down to dinner. Rusl's wife asked me all about my adventures that I had had so far, and I told them as much as I thought would be safe. I had no wish to alarm this family so I left out the Cloak of Shadows, Link's pregnancy, and even the reason why I was here in the first place. I simply told them about my training with Link, how Castle Town looked, Zelda, and all of the little fun details since I had arrived. Colin, Rusl's little boy, hung on every word. I could tell that Link was a personal hero to him, and he wanted to know everything about him: how he was, what he was doing, if he was okay, then he started telling stories about Link's bravery and how he had saved Colin from a giant monster than had captured him, and how he had taken him to a nice man who made him feel better. I looked at Colin and said,

"I know you miss Link, and I promise to get him back over here before too long."

Then the door opened, and who was it but Link himself. Colin was out of his chair and glommed himself onto Link's leg like he had not seen his friend in a million years.

"Link! I was so worried; have you fought any more monsters? Did you bring me anything? Oh, this is Christina. She was telling us all about you, and how were training her to be a hero just like you!"

Link smiled and pulled Colin off his leg.

"Yes, I know her. In fact, she's the reason that I'm here. Colin, I'm happy to see you, and your dad, but I'm afraid that reminiscing will have to saved for another day."

"Awwww! Really? But reeeeally I wanted to show you my new slingshot, and how good I've gotten at it."

I am sorry, Colin. Rusl, it is good to see you again, and I promise that we'll catch up in the morning, but I really need to speak with my student for a while."

"Link, you take all the time you need. We're not going anywhere."

"I promise Colin, I'll look at your new slingshot tomorrow, okay?"

(pout) "Okay."

"Come on, Christina. Let's go to the ranch at the top of the hill. Fado will take good care of them both."

I agreed, and after our horses were in the stables and had been fed, I accompanied Link to his house.

"You know, soon it may be more difficult to climb that ladder," I said," You might want to think about putting in an easier method to get in and out of your house."

"Ah, well, that's what I needed to talk to you about."

"Wait a sec…how did you find me? I didn't tell anyone where I was going, and that Thing spooked Cael and he took me all the way here."

"I can't explain exactly how I knew that you were here, but I just knew."

"Oookaaay."

"Just go with me on this alright. (sigh) First of all, I'd like to apologize to you about the way I talked you at Kakariko Village. I'm not exactly feeling very heroic right now, and I thought that if I did something that reminded me of how I was before I got…this way…I would feel better."

"Link; there is nothing that you could do that wouldn't make me think that you aren't a hero. After all, you are carrying the fate of Hyrule within you, and that's saying something. It has taken a lot courage to do what you are doing, and you are living up to the Triforce that is imprinted on your hand. We're all proud of you, ya know."

"Thank you, but there is something else. Zelda told me that you were able to split two of her arrows in perfect halves; is that true?"

"Yeah; she dared me."

"In all of my time, I have never been able to do that once, and you did it twice in a row. That's impressive. Truly the Goddesses have sent me a gifted student. Now I have some rather difficult questions to ask about my…'condition,' and I would appreciate it if you didn't laugh at me when I ask them."

"I can't afford to laugh at you, dude. You're armed."

He laughed at me and took a deep breath and asked me his first question,

"How long will I be small enough that I can still relatively fit into my clothes? They have begun to feel…snug."

"I'm afraid not much longer, then. You're a slender guy, and so bigger clothing might need to be something we'll need to look at soon."

He took another deep breath and asked,

"What activities, including sumo, should I not do while I'm still like this?"

"Well, you should avoid any real rigorous activity, and if a Goron challenges you to a fight again, have someone else do it. Knucklehead."

"What kind of rigorous activities?"

"Sprinting, drinking any alcoholic beverages of ANY kind, smoking, pole-vaulting, fighting giant spider demons, horseback riding should probably taken down a few notches because it jostles the…you know…and it can hurt him. And claw-shotting from precarious edge to precarious edge is a definite no-no. Ugh, listen to me: the kids not even four months old yet, and I'm already starting to talk like a mom."

"Yeah, I have one more question, and I am not exactly sure how to put it."

He was fidgeting. I don't believe I had ever seen him do that.

"Um, so we know how our son got in me…now…how do we…uh…get him out?"

Oooo, hadn't thought about that one. How was I going to answer this one?

"Well, have you noticed anything…unusual about your…anatomy of late?"

"What? No!"

"Are you sure? Because the normal way is…through a certain…orifice."

"I am quite certain that there have been no new developments to my anatomy."

He crossed him arms and looked down at the floor. He was obviously uncomfortable, and so was I.

"Link, could you just go and…make sure?"

We both turned beet red, and he walked away into his little washroom. A few minutes later he returned with the MOST embarrassed look on his face and said,

"I can assure you that my anatomy has not changed or morphed in any way."

"Well then, I guess you are going to need a C-section."

"A what?"

"It's a surgery that's usually done on people who find themselves in your position; it's short for Cesarean Section. Here, I'll show you"

I rolled up my tunic out of the way and I put my hands on my belly and said,

"Essentially you sterilize this area," I made a circular motion with my hand from the top of my stomach to the bottom, "and then an incision is made from here to here," and I took my finger and traced a line down the middle of my belly. "This is done while the m…parent is under some kind of painkiller so that they don't feel when the cut is made. After the incision is made, the baby is removed from the womb and the umbilical cord is cut, the placenta is removed, and the parent is sewn back up."

Nice save, Christina. I had almost used the word 'mother.' I rolled my tunic back down, and looked at Link. Poor guy was pale, and then he began to look nauseous. Oh great! I quickly found a wastebasket just before Link emptied the contents of his stomach.

"Ugh, that is truly disgusting," he said, "I can face monsters and demons of all kinds, but to know that I need to be cut open and have my insides exposed to the world is not sitting well with me."

"I can tell. There is no other option unless you begin to…change and then you could do it the natural way, but I highly doubt that is going to happen. Like Zelda said, you weren't equipped for this and I'm sure the spell only allowed your internal organs to move around to make room for your womb. Those are the only two that I know of, I'm sorry."

I gave him a sympathetic look, and Link looked down at the table feeling utterly miserable.

"Thank you for not laughing at me, Christina."

"Hey, no problem. I have a question for you though."

"What is it?"

"I'm still confused on how you found me. I mean, there was no possible way that you could have known where I was."

"I can't explain it; I just know that whenever you are in danger, I can always find you. I don't know, it's a Hylian thing. All Hylians can sense whenever someone they care a lot about is in danger."

Well, you learn something new everyday, I guess. That had never been mentioned in the game, but I guess even well-known video games still hide secrets.

"Link, I want you to know something."

"What?"

"I am honored to have you carry our son, and I am truly grateful for the sacrifices you have made."

"I needed to; mainly because the decision was made for me. Hyrule is in peril again, and it needs her Hero. I can't say that I feel honored or even glad that this happened. However, I can see that it is necessary. Forgive me; I don't want to grow too attached to this child. I know that at the end he will be taken from me, and I am not looking forward to that."

I embraced Link in a hug that he quickly returned. We both knew what was coming in the end, and neither of us was looking forward to it. We remained locked in each other's arms for a little while, and when I released him Link had tears shining in his eyes. I had never seen him cry before, and it broke my heart.


	8. Chapter 8

Seeing Link cry was more than I could bear.

"Link, please don't cry; please. It breaks my heart to see you so upset."

"I know, but I don't know how to feel okay with this. I can't get through this without feeling anything for my son, and I know that you can't either. He was conceived to save Hyrule, nothing more. I am having trouble dealing with this."

" I know, I know."

I sobbed quietly with him for a while, and then I got an idea:

"I know what might make us both feel a little better," I said through my own tears

I took a stethoscope out of my travel pouch that I had made specifically for this, and I asked Link,

"Come on; lie down on your bed and pull up your tunic, I'm going to try something."

He looked at me curiously, but did as I asked him to. I put the bell of the stethoscope against the warm skin of his belly and I moved the bell around for a few minutes. Then I heard it: a faint 'whoosh-whoosh-whoosh' like an intermittent rush of water.

"Link listen."

I took the earpieces out of my ears and gave them to him. He put them in his own and asked,

"What am I listening to? I can barely hear anything, just something that sounds like a rush of water that keeps breaking up."

"That is our son's heart. He is big enough that we can listen to it, and from what I can tell it's strong. He's healthy."

Link took the earpieces out of his ears and rolled down his tunic. He looked at me with a look of pride and yet he also had an air of detachment about himself.

"He's healthy?"

"Yes. It's a normal beat, and he seems to be developing well."

Link sat up on his bed and said,

"Well, that's good. Forgive me, but I think that I need some time to myself for a while. Will you please excuse me?"

"Of course."

I left him in his room, and I went to the cellar. I wanted to see what in the world that Hylians kept in their cellars, and I found exactly what I expected to: foodstuffs, any and all kinds of preserves, a few discarded clothes, and a mirror which I found to be particularly interesting. Why would Link keep a mirror in his cellar? Odd; I turned around to climb the ladder, and I saw Link standing there.

"Oh, umm, I thought you wanted to be alone."

"I did, until I remembered that I have unfinished business with you."

That wasn't Link! I quickly reached for my sword only to realize that I had left it upstairs as well as my bow; I was totally unarmed and this Thing was more powerful than I had even seen him before.

"You see, my weak disciple," the Thing that looked like Link said, "I can be anywhere you are, and I am becoming more powerful every day. Time is growing shorter and you are just one step closer to naming me as your Master."

I looked at the Thing with anger in my face and in my heart. I raised my fists preparing to do hand-to-hand combat with the Thing if I needed to, but he just grinned at me with a look of sheer evil that did not belong on Link's face.

I had enough.

"Every time I see you, you make a threat that time is growing shorter and you have some kind of business with me, and that I will claim you as my Master, and then I wind up having some kind of paralyzing nightmare where I do things I would never so in my waking hours. What are you talking about? Why do you want me so bad?"

It just laughed, and turned back into a shadow.

"You'll understand in time, my disciple. You will understand all too well before your adventure is over."

It disappeared leaving me alone in the cellar more confused and mystified than ever. I wondered if the survival of Hyrule would even last for the next seven, now nearly six, months. Gannondorf was becoming more and more powerful every time he spoke to me, and last time he had used Midna's shape: a shape that was already shadowy. Now he was able to take on Link's guise? Link was born of the light, and that meant that I did have a few answers. Two months ago, the Shadow-Shape could only take on the shapes that were already draped in shadow: like Midna. Now it was able to take on the shapes of people who were somewhat draped in light. It truly could transcend between the worlds of shadow and light, and it was getting better at it. How long before he could take on Zelda's shape, or even that of a Goddess? My son was our only hope, and time was running out. I climbed the ladder and I found the guest bed. I felt spent after that encounter, and all I wanted was sleep. I lay on the comfortable mattress and I drifted off into a dreamless sleep thanks to the cloak given to me by Zelda. Soon, however, I was disturbed again. I woke around two in the morning to a familiar human figure standing next to me: Link.

"Link, go back to bed and get some rest."

He said nothing

"Link, did you hear me?"

Nothing

"Link?"

Then I looked down at his hands and saw that he was holding the Master Sword. He raised it above his head and said,

"For Zelda."

He brought the sword down on the bed, and I quickly dodged as he struck where my neck had been.

"LINK! SNAP OUT OF IT! WAKE UP!

"Die Gannondorf."

Oh my God, he was dreaming that I was Gannondorf! I had to wake him up. I ran into his room, and I quickly found an arrow. I pulled it from my quiver and I wheeled around and found Link standing above me with his sword raised and a nasty look on his face.

"This is for murdering my Princess!"

He swung his sword and while I did dodge it, he managed to put a nice slice into my shoulder.

"Link, I'm sorry!"

I stabbed him in the foot with my arrow, which woke him up immediately. He hopped around, and yelled,

"OWWWW! WAS THAT PAYBACK FOR PUNCHING YOU TWO MONTHS AGO? WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?"

"YOU TRIED TO KILL ME!"

That stopped him dead in his tracks.

"I did what?"

"You were sleeping and you thought I was Gannondorf. You tried to kill me for murdering Zelda. Clearly the Cloak of Shadows affects you outside of the castle grounds. I'm sorry for having to do that, but I didn't want to die."

"I don't blame you, but can you fix my foot? You did quite a number on it."

"I can try; here let me see what kind of damage I did."

I looked at his foot, and realized that I had pushed the arrow all the way through his foot. Thank God I wasn't squeamish. I broke the arrow at the top, and said,

"I think we should go to the spring just outside of the village. That water has healing properties and will help you're foot."

He agreed and I went to the ranch behind the mayor's house, and I got Epona. Once I had gotten Link up on her, I took him to the spring. There I had to perform a rather crude and painful, but effective, surgery.

I took a handful of the water to wash the blood away, and exposed more of the damage. Then I took the arrow and pulled it out through the bottom of his foot so that the barbs would not rip up any tissue if I pulled it out the way it went in. Link scrunched his face in pain, but never once did he scream. Once the arrow was out, I managed to get his foot back in the water and I watched as the wound healed more quickly than I had ever seen any wound. Not even a scar was left behind.

"You have a healer's touch."

"Thanks."

"Christina, will you do me a favor?"

"Just as long as it doesn't involve any more kind of late-night bloody escapades."

"No, just kiss me."

"W...what?"

"You have been so kind, and I feel that I at least owe you that."

"Link, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Please allow me this. You have given your training and your life over to me so completely and have put your faith in me. In Hyrule, when we want to reciprocate such an act, we seal it with a kiss. It is not something of sexual intimacy. Rather it is something that says 'I trust you as you trust me.'"

I thought for a minute. Once again, this had never been explained when I had played the game. Oh well, when in Rome I guess. I leaned over him and he gently touched my cheek. He pulled my lips close to his own and pressed them gently with his soft silken ribbons of flesh. The kiss that he gave me was far better than the one he had given me when we first met, and it sent a shocking sensation through my body that I never wanted to end. But it did end, and he pulled away from me and said,

"Now understand that we have a bond that cannot be broken. This is a bond of trust with the life and body. If it is breached it means death. I have the same bond with Zelda, and even though she needed to betray me, she has never betrayed my ultimate trust in her. This is a special bond that is only given to those who truly deserve it."

Whoa, that was a big commitment, but I felt as though I could truly trust Link with my life and he had just told me that he could trust me with his. Another honor given to me by a Hero of legend, and as time passed I was feeling more and more like the Heroine that I needed to be.

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Sorry this is a short one. Family is in town, and I am having trouble with updating. Please keep reviewing as your comments as precious to me. Thanks!


	9. Chapter 9

Please continue to Read and Review. Comments are precious to me. Thanks!

* * *

We returned Epona to the stable after that little escapade and went back to Link's house. I said to him,

"You had better get a little more rest. You are going to need to keep your strength up as much as possible."

"How can I rest knowing that at any moment I could kill you or anyone?"

"Here," I gave him my cloak, "Midna asked the Goddesses to make this for me to guard my dreams outside of the castle grounds. It should work for you too."

He took the cloak from me and said,

"Thank you, Christina. I am grateful to you, but what about you?"

"Don't worry about me right now. I want to go explore the village a little. If I see anyone, I'll let them know that you'll be out of your house as soon as you can."

"Thanks, but if you get tired, you come back here and get some rest. It's still early, and I doubt that anyone but the chickens will be up at this hour, except Fado perhaps. Tell you what, if you want something to do, go ahead and tell him that you want to help him out with the chores up there. He'll be glad of the help, I'm sure."

"Okay, I will; and Link…. sweet dreams and thank you for the bond."

"Thank you for accepting it."

He turned back to his room, and I back to mine to grab my clothes. Before I left to go though, I heard the sweetest thing: Link was talking to the baby. I heard him say,

"So um…yeah…I guess I'm your dad. Oh boy…um…I guess you are wondering why your mommy isn't carrying you, but that's something I'll explain when you can actually understand me. Not that you can't understand me now, but I…um…yeah. I'm going to go to sleep now."

He stopped talking and I couldn't help but giggle a little ay his awkwardness. Poor guy; he was literally carrying the weight of the world, and I could do nothing except offer encouragement. I also knew that we needed to leave this village soon. I understood that Link felt good to be home, but we needed to get back to the castle so we could both see Zelda: Link for his checkup and I so I could tell her what was developing with Gannondorf. We would probably need to leave that afternoon as soon as Link was up and had made his rounds within the village. In the meantime, I went back to the ranch where I was met by Fado. I said to him,

'Link said you needed some help this morning, so here I am."

"Bless that boy! Come with me, young lady, and I'll show you what needs to be done."

Fado, all though not as good a rancher as Link, was a capable teacher who showed me how to do things around there. I helped feed the goats and our horses, cleaned the stalls, helped milk the goats, and went to the pasture with Fado to keep an eye on them all while they grazed. As I sat there beside him I asked,

"Has Link always been one for never saying much?"

"Are you kidding? Once you get that boy going on something, it's difficult to get him quiet again. Then again, he never was one for idle gossip either. It all really depends on how he's feeling."

"I see. Fado…can I trust you?"

"Well I hope so, young lady. I'm not one for idle gossip myself."

I took a deep breath and said,

"Truth be told, I'm not sure what my purpose here in Hyrule is. I mean, I know I was needed for something that has already happened, but I think that I'm meant for some other purpose as well. I think Zelda would have sent me home otherwise."

"Well young lady, I can't deny that word of you has spread even into our little village of Ordon, and I agree with you: someone isn't pulled from one world to another without having some greater purpose to fulfill."

I went from looking at his kind eyes to the ground.

"You knew?"

"We all know. When you showed up here in the village, we were all suspicious that you were the 'Girl-From-The-Other-World,' but I figured it out as soon as you said Link had sent you to me. Can't explain it, just knew; and being from another world, perhaps you can answer a mystery for us all. People in the village have begun to grow more and more weary. More and more often, I and the other villagers are beginning to have dark nightmares; in fact, a restful night's sleep is becoming a thing of the past. Can you shed some light on this? Do you know anything at all?"

I continued to look at the ground and I sighed,

"Yes, I know a few things, but not all. I cannot give answers now because I don't know everything yet. Otherwise I fear that I may give you false information when I truly don't know everything that is happening. I will, however, say that all the events that are happening now and the events that are to come are all connected, and that you needn't fear."

"Well, that doesn't help much, but I trust in what you say. Now, is there anything else that you would like to ask of me?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact. What can you tell me about a bond of trust?"

"Oh, now that is a rare and special gift. That kind of bond can only be made if a person is divinely blessed, and there is a mutual feeling that one another's life can be trusted into each other's hands. It can be done through the exchange of blood or a kiss, and both are something so sacred that if it is made and the bond is broken, it means certain death. That bond been made only once, and it was made between Link and Princess Zelda."

I was dumfounded. Link had made that bond with me early that morning, and I understood why he had made it. He wanted to make sure that I understood that his life was in my hands. When it was finally his time, and he would give birth, if I failed and our son and he was lost to us, it would also mean my death as well. It was the ultimate trust, and I couldn't fail. Just then, Link came up the hill carrying my cloak. When he reached us he said in a cheerful voice,

"Ah, I see the two of you are getting along well. Here's your cloak back, Christina. Thank you for letting me borrow it. Fado, my friend it is good to see you."

"Link, it is a pleasure to see you, as always. I see that Princess Zelda has been treating you well."

I saw Link get a little on the defensive.

"What do you mean?"

Fado reached over, patted Link on his belly and said,

"You are getting a bit paunchy my friend."

Just like that I saw him go from cheerful to downcast.

"Oh, yeah um…Zelda feeds me well, I guess."

Fado laughed and said,

"Try not to get too much bigger. Anyway, do you need your student back?"

"I'm afraid I do, but we'll be back in a bit to get our horses so we can get back to the castle. We have work to do over there. In the meantime, I'm going to show her around the town for a while and have her meet a few people."

"Alright, my friend. Remember, stay away from those sweets."

"I'll try to cut back."

We left Fado laughing at his own supposed 'joke' and I could tell that Link was feeling very self-conscious. I tried to remedy the situation by saying,

"Link, don't worry about what he said. You look great."

I smiled at him, but all I got in return was a nasty frown and he retorted,

"You are not me, so just be quiet!"

I shut my mouth, and just did what I was told. Unfortunately, Link's mood went from bad to worse as the morning wore on. Every person that we spoke to had something negative to say about his body. He almost lost his temper in the small general store when the shopkeeper tried to say something. All she got out was,

"Why Link, dear! You're looking…."

He cut her off,

"Don't! Just don't say anything. I'm well aware of how I look, and I don't need it pointed out to me again."

"All right, dear, all right. Can I get you anything?"

"Just fill these bottles up with milk, and we'll be on our way."

The shopkeeper did as she was asked, and we left the store with full bottles, but a sour attitude from Link. I wisely kept my mouth shut the whole way back to the ranch, and Link didn't speak a word to Fado once we got there. Fado pulled me aside and asked me,

"Did I say something to make him upset?"

"Well, you commented on his body, and he's rather touchy about it right now. Don't say anything at the moment, and apologize later when he's not in such a bad mood. Otherwise you're going to have to deal with steel, and I don't think you want to do that."

"Thanks for the heads up. Count on an apology from me though. I would never intentionally offend him."

"I know."

We got our horses saddled up, and we took off for the castle. While we were going through the village though Link got the opportunity to cheer up. We heard a voice behind us cry,

"LINK!"

Link pulled up Epona and saw Colin chasing him down.

"You promised that you would watch me shoot my slingshot today."

"Oh, Colin. I almost forgot. Here climb on up behind me and we'll go to my house so I can watch you."

The look on that little boy's face was enough to light up a whole forest. Link helped him up on Epona, and Colin sat behind him wrapping his little arms around Link's waist. I could immediately see the questioning look in his eyes as he did this, because he never remembered Link being this big around the middle. But once we got to Link's house, he seemed to forget all about it. Link dismounted and then helped Colin down."

"Now," said Link," Show me what you got."

Colin beamed as he drew back his slingshot and hit one of the lower targets that surrounded the house. It was a perfect bull's-eye, and Link had a proud look in his face.

"Well done! Now can you hit that one up there?"

Colin got an unsure look on his face, but took aim and fired at one of the higher targets. He was just shy of the mark, but Link still beamed at him. It was like watching a father and son at play. It was a shame that he would never be able to do this with is own firstborn. For a while, Link and Colin were at it, until I said,

"Link, we need to go now."

"All right, all right. Just let me say goodbye."

Link took little Colin in his arms and gave him a strong hug.

"I'll be back soon, my friend. I swear."

Colin wrapped his little arms around Link's waist again and said,

"I know you will, but can I ask a question?"

"Of course."

"You're tummy feels kinda like my mommy's did before she had my little brother. Are you going to have baby?"

Link got stone still.

"Of course not, Colin. Only ladies can do that. You should really ask your mom and dad about that. Christina, let's go."

I don't think I've ever seen someone turn a horse around faster to get out of there. It was almost like the poor guy was trying to escape. I quickly followed him after a hasty apology to Colin, and tried to run him down.

"Link!"

"WHAT!"

"He's just a kid. He doesn't really understand."

Link pulled Epona up, and turned her around to look me in the face.

"Colin is more clever than you give him credit for. He is observant, and bright, and if he could figure it out, than anyone can."

He turned Epona back around and took off at a gallop.

"Link wait!"

Too late; he was gone, but I urged Cael on faster until I had him out at a full run. It wasn't until about twenty minutes later that I reached the castle, and I took the shortcut. I took Cael to the stables and immediately went looking for Link. I found him in the practice yard, destroying a piece of wood with an axe. I was almost afraid to approach him, but I did and I said,

"Link."

It was all I needed to say. He turned around with axe in hand and shouted in sheer frustration,

"Why me, Christina? When Hyrule needs to be saved they always turn to me, and now I'm being forced to do something that should be you're task! Why?"

I couldn't say anything so I took the axe way from him, threw it off to the side and wrapped him in an embrace to let him know that someone was there. He wrapped his arms around me and sobbed into the shoulder that he had sliced open with the Master Sword the previous night, and just let all of his emotions flow forward. We stayed like that for a good five minutes before Link finally let me go wthout saying a word and went somewhere in the castle to just be alone. I followed behind him, but only because I was afraid for him, and I got even more scared when I heard him outside his bedroom door screaming,

"This is all YOU'RE fault! If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be in this mess in the first place, and I could have lived happily ever after with Zelda! This shouldn't have even fallen to me; this should have been HER task! SHE'S the one equipped for this! But, no! I had to be the one! I always have to be the one!"

Then I heard him sob quietly into a pillow and I heard him say,

"I'm sorry, son. I'm not angry with you, just this situation. This is not you're fault. Please forgiver me for yelling at you."

Link had accidentally left a crack of his door open, and I could see what he was doing. It was wrong to peek, I knew, but I was frightened for him, and it was my son he was carrying too; not just his. I looked through the door and I saw him wrapping his arms protectively around his still-slender belly, and saying,

"I'm sorry son. This is not your fault."

I left him alone then, knowing that he would not appreciate it if he found me at his doorway, and I would probably get a lecture, or worse, a swordfight for intruding on such a private moment.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note:

Thank you for all of your reviews. Please keep them coming. Also there may have been some confusion that I based the female protagonist in this story off of one of the charaters in the other games called Mary Sue. I am not sure who that is, but I based Christina off of a girl who is kind of a nerd in her own world, and likes things that typical girls are not supposed to like weapons, dragons, fighting and bloody battles. She is more accepted in Hyrule and is viewed as a Hero because of these things. Any connection is purely coincidental, and I would never try and steal another's work to make it my own. Thanks for being awesome everyone! Happy Reading

* * *

I left Link alone, and went to find Zelda. I found her in the study with Midna sitting at a table looking at some manuscripts.

"Midna!" I exclaimed, "What are you doing back here? I thought you were in the Twilight Realm."

"I was until Zelda called me and said that she needed my help. I'm actually glad that you are here; we both need to speak with you."

"I have things I need to tell you as well, but please go first."

Midna motioned for me to sit beside them and take a look at the manuscripts. There was a map of Hyrule, and some pieces of parchment that had that weird language on it that I didn't understand. Zelda said,

"Anyway, as I was saying, reports from the inhabitants of these lands are filled with unrest. There have been more fights between our allies along these borders," she pointed to the border between Death Mountain and Kakariko Village, "As well as these," and she traced the lines between Castle Town and the Zora Domain. "Gannondorf's evil is beginning to affect the people, and I fear that soon we may need to evacuate them soon and bring them all here. Problem is, we don't have room for everyone. Midna, what do you suggest?"

"Well, you have lots of room in the Castle, you could put a lot of the overflow into here, and they will be safest here anyway."

"Yes, but this castle does not have nearly enough room to accommodate the entire Goron and Zora villages as well as the people from our neighboring provinces like Ordon. Now the Goddess said that the grounds had protection as well, so what we can do for the people is begin construction on camps within the grounds so that they will have somewhere to sleep, but what about their farms and livestock? And what about Link? He is beginning to grow, and soon people will begin to ask questions."

It was here that I piped up,

"It's already begun, Zelda. Link found me in Ordon after Cael took me for a little run caused by that Shadow-Shape, and everyone there said something about his new body. It wasn't good. He's in his room now and he's very upset about the whole situation."

"I see. Will you ladies please excuse me?"

"Zelda, wait…please don't tell him I told you. I was peeking in on him, and that was how I knew. I don't want to make him any madder than he already is."

"All right, I won't."

Zelda left as gracefully as a Princess should, leaving Midna and me alone with each other. It was the first time I had been alone with her and I wasn't quite sure what to say, so I asked about the Twilight Realm.

"Midna, can you please tell me what the Twilight Realm is like?"

"Oh, it is a beautiful place. The light is so romantic and the people are friendly. Now, you must be careful there as it is a place a danger as well as beauty, but everything there is quite calm and serene."

"Was dealing with Link difficult when you had you're adventure together?"

"Oh, he had his moments. Some strange quest would distract him, and when he was a wolf…that was when was at his worst: he wanted to smell everything. But he was a true-blue Hero to the bone, and he never gave up. He saved us all. It seems so unfair that we had to put him through this task. He didn't deserve it, even though the action was necessary."

"I feel the same way."

We stared at various objects in the room for a minute before Midna said,

"All right, then I have to know: do you love Link?"

"What! No! I love him like a friend, and I trust him with my life, but I can't love him in that way. He's Zelda's, and I am just his student and…"

"…The mother of his child," Midna finished for me.

"It's confusing, Midna. I have someone back home, but I wonder if time passes differently between our worlds, and whether or not he is still looking for me, or has given me up for dead. I miss him so much."

I looked down to the ground, and I felt my tears coming on again. Midna took my hand and said,

"Let me assure you that you're love back home truly loves you, and will never stop looking for you. He has not given you up."

I looked at the Twilight Princess and said,

"How can you know?"

"Because I was watching him when I returned to my realm. I visited him across the space and told him that you were safe. The Goddesses granted me that when I asked them to make that cloak for you. He knows you are safe, and that you will see him again soon."

I embraced that woman in the biggest hug you could imagine. He knew I was okay! That was some of the best news that I had received, and I held it to my heart like a precious jewel.

"Thank you, Midna! Thank you!"

Just then Zelda came back into the study with Link, and saw me hugging Midna.

"What did I miss?" she asked.

"My love knows I'm all right! He didn't give me up for dead, and Midna let me know. I'm sorry if I overstepped my bounds, but you just made me the happiest person in Hyrule."

Zelda smiled and said,

"Christina, you have a good man back there. He deserves you, but I must take you away from that moment of happiness now and speak with you about a few things."

"Okay, what's on your mind?"

"Link told me the way that you plan on getting your son out of him when the time comes, and I need to know: is that even safe? Has it been done before?"

"Where I come from, that procedure is performed all the time on women who are having a difficult time with their delivery. However, it's tricky because you also need to stick a needle into the parent's spinal cord to deaden the pain before you can even begin to make an incision. It takes a lot of practice and even then, sometimes it's not successful. Women still die in childbirth in my world even though it is as common a thing as breathing."

Link looked nauseous again as Zelda pondered what I had said for a minute and then asked,

"Do you remember some time ago when I took you for the second time into the observatory and the Goddess assured you that while you were on castle grounds you're sleep would be peaceful, but you were asked to leave and the Goddess wanted to speak with me alone?"

"I do remember that. That was the night I scared Link by jumping into his bed and hiding under the blankets. Still sorry about that, Link. I guess I've come a little ways since then."

Zelda gave a half-smile and said,

"The Goddess informed me that you would know of a way for Link to deliver the baby, but you had to be the one to tell us of it first. Once you had told me, she asked me to bring you back to the observatory so she could speak with us again. Before the sun rises, I'll get you from you're room. Now that that is out of the way, I have something else I wish to speak with you about."

"Okay."

"Have you ever heard of the 'Bond of Trust?"

My thoughts, and I'm sure Link's, returned back to early that morning.

"Yes, I've heard of it. Link gave me that bond this morning."

"Good. Give me your hand, Christina."

She took a little dagger and pricked my palm. Then she pricked her own and she clasped my hand. Then she said,

"Bound by blood, my friend and servant. Now you say the same thing."

"B…bound by blood, my friend and servant."

"Midna, give me your hand."

Zelda pricked Midna's palm and clasped it with her own.

"Bound by blood, my friend and servant."

"Bound by blood, my friend and servant."

Then Midna and I did the same thing, and then Link and Midna. After the ceremony was complete we all sat there and stared at each other for a second and Zelda spoke up,

"We have all said that we can depend on each other. Our Bond is one of blood and is therefore sacred to all those who witnessed it. Any of us who break this bond brings the wrath of the Sacred Realm down upon them as well as certain death. Remember your oaths today and keep them secret. If one of us is in trouble, let the other come to their aid."

We all simply nodded, and I asked her,

"Has anyone made this many bonds at once before?"

"No, this is truly special. I, however, feel that my life can be trusted to any of you, and therefore I had no qualms about this."

That was all I wanted to know about that, and I stayed silent. It wasn't until Link grabbed me and said,

"Come on; let's get back to training and leave the Princesses alone. They have much to discuss with the matter of trying to fit everyone in Hyrule into this little space."

"All right."

I followed Link out to the practice yard, and I told him,

"I don't think that it is a good idea for you to get on Epona and try to have me knock you onto the ground. I could hurt you real bad."

He gave me a questioning look and said,

"I'm not going up against you right now. No, no; you are practicing with the dummy first."

He led me to a long field that I could only assume was a jousting area, but it had a large fake mannequin thing in the middle of it. The instructions I was given were simple, 'knock the dummy off the fake horse.' Of course, if I failed I knew I would be laughed at for getting knocked off of my horse by a stationary object…I failed the first time. The dummy knocked me off my horse, and Link was doubled over on the field laughing so hard that his face was red and he was crying. I was thoroughly embarrassed. This was going to be harder than I thought. We were only able to get two hours of practice in before it was too dark to see, and Link got sick again.

"Link, you didn't take your medicine did you?"

"That stuff makes me want to throw up just by smelling it! I don't know what's worse: the cause or the cure."

I managed to get him back to the little clinic and got him to take more of that foul-smelling scarlet liquid, and of course I had a little evil thought:

'_Serves you right for laughing at me_.'

I kept my mouth shut though. As he tipped his head back, I could see that he was indeed a little bigger round his middle. He had always been a slender guy, but his slender body was making him show a little sooner than normal. He was just under three months along and tomorrow would be three exactly. If he kept growing like this, he was going to be HUGE when eight and nine months rolled around. Link finished drinking that awful stuff and rinsed his mouth out.

"That never gets any better. Good job out there, but don't let the dummy knock you off next time. He's still, and you're moving. You need to be the force that topples the tree, don't let the tree topple you."

"Thanks, I'll take that to heart. In the meantime, are you hungry?"

He gave me a look that said, 'duh,' and his stomach growled in reply. We went to the dining hall and had dinner and then we retired to our rooms. As I sunk into my bath, I thought of my love back home and how I was glad that he knew that I was all right. I missed him terribly, and I was looking forward to seeing him again. After my bath, I jumped into my stately bed and sank into sweet dreams. Just before I fell asleep, I remembered that I had forgotten to tell the Princesses about the latest development with Gannondorf. I would have to do it in the morning. All to soon, Zelda came and got me up to speak to the Goddess again.

"Christina."

"Ungh."

"Wake up, it's time."

"Ungh—hmm (snore)."

"WAKE UP!"

"All right! All right! I'm up! Geez!"

"Let's go, we must be swift. Sunrise is upon us."

I followed her into the observatory where she shot her Arrow of Light into the sky for the third time, and the ray appeared in the room where the Arrow had glimmered. I knelt before the Goddess and she said,

"I see that you have come seeking knowledge."

"Yes, Excellency. I need the information on how to be able to deliver my son."

"You have a blood-bond with the Bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom."

It was not a question.

"I do, Excellency, and she with me."

"Then understand that trust is the most precious and delicate thing that exists between you. Do not betray it, or it will come to your ruin."

"I won't."

"Now, as for how to be able to deliver your son: both of you look at me."

Zelda and I looked into the eyes of the Goddess, and we immediately felt a rush of information and knowledge hit us. My head felt like it was splitting, but I saw visions of what I needed to do. It only lasted for a few seconds, but when it was over I felt like I had just studied for 24 hours straight. My head hurt and my brain felt numb. I looked over at Zelda and I could tell she felt the same way. Then the Goddess said,

"I could not give you this knowledge without you having given the basics of what needed to be done to the other two who bear the Triforces of Courage and Wisdom. They never would have believed otherwise. Now you know all, and your son will be well taken care of. Go now. I cannot see you again until the child is born."

The Goddess left us feeling drained of energy, but satisfied that when the time came we would know exactly what to do. I looked over at Zelda and said,

"I…. I need to tell you about Gannondorf."

"She put her hand up, and said,

"In a minute. My mind can't take any more new information at the moment."

After a few minutes we made our way back to the study. We sat down and Zelda asked me,

"All right, now what did you need to tell me about Gannondorf."

"He's becoming stronger and is learning to use the Cloak better. While we were in Ordon, his Shadow-Shape took on Link's guise and fooled me. Before he was only able to do that with things that were draped in mostly shadow, like Midna. Now he's able to take on the shapes of things somewhat draped in light, and I was thinking that he might even become powerful enough to take on your shape or even the shape of a Goddess before this is all over. Where is he, anyway? I mean I have been able to see this Shadow-Shape that he keeps sending to me, but where is he?"

"Midna has been looking for him. We believe him to be hiding in the Twilight Realm, and if he is not there and he has become that powerful, then he might be here in Hyrule. Hmm. This is valuable information, and if and when we need to bring Hyrule's inhabitants here, we must keep a close eye on everyone who comes in."

"How can we know who he would be?"

"I don't know. I am hoping that some sort of subtle thing will give him away. Some odd phrase or action that just isn't quite right, and will be listed as nothing more than an odd quirk. Now because you have had the most dealings with him, if and when this happens, I will need you to go be the guard in hopes of recognizing him. Can you do that?"

"Yes I can, but what if he recognizes me?"

"I have a feeling that if he does, it will be his undoing. Now, I'm sure that that experience wore you out just as much as me, and if you will excuse me I am going back to bed to rest my brain."

"I think I will too, Zelda. Thanks."

We went our separate ways, and I retired back to my room where I sank into sweet dreams again.


	11. Chapter 11

Over the next three months, Link's training program intensified. Learning to fight from the ground was one thing, but learning to fight from horseback was another thing entirely. There were different strokes of the sword that needed to be performed, I couldn't get my bow as steady as if I was on the ground, and trying to keep my balance on Cael was difficult trying to swing my sword, hold the reins, hold my shield, and when I needed to use my bow: put my sword and shield away, take out my bow, aim and shoot accurately. Link still got sick every once in a while, so we took to keeping a few of those nasty smelling vials of scarlet liquid on hand when we were out on the field. At five, nearly six months along, he was developing quite nicely but because of this he could no longer be my opponent. One of the soldiers was a good substitute, and there were times that the soldier had to take over for Link if he was feeling too poorly that day. There were a few times over those three months that Zelda came down to watch my training, and she looked on with approval, however she was busy with her own tasks: she was working on finding as much room for everyone as she could within the Castle Grounds. Of course, we were not sure that it was even going to come to that, but she wanted to be prepared. As it turned out she was right. One day I was out practicing with Link and the soldier, and a two people turned up just outside the gate. The soldier went to go see to it, and when he arrived back he said,

"We might have a problem. There is a man standing outside of the gate and he has a child with him. I told them I would speak with the Princess, but I am wondering if I should just go ahead and let them in. They look exhausted!"

Link asked,

"What do these people look like?"

"Well, the man told me his name was Rusl, and…"

That was all Link needed to hear. He ran towards the gates, and I followed him leaving the poor soldier quite confused. Link stopped about halfway there because he needed to catch his breath. He had gotten quite a bit larger and it was affecting how he was breathing. I said to him,

"You go tell Zelda that two people from your village have arrived seeking shelter, and I will go get them."

Link agreed with me and took off in the direction of the castle. When I got to the gate, I saw Rusl and Colin standing there looking like they hadn't slept in weeks. I told the guard,

"Open the gate; let them in!"

"Not without the approval of the Princess!"

I could only wait for Link to get back with her and while we waited I assured them that they would be all right. Colin looked up at me with his tired eyes and asked,

"Where's Link?"

"He's gone to get Princess Zelda. He'll be back shortly. In the meantime, can you tell me what happened?"

"I can," said Rusl, "Our sleep is disturbed by terrible nightmares and then during our waking hours we hear terrible rumors about the people in our village. We try not to listen to them, but after hearing that my wife was having an affair…I knew that something had to be up. I confronted her about it, and she denied it. I have never had reason to distrust her, but I found myself doubting her. We have all been at each other's throats, and the mayor finally had enough. He me here to speak with the Princess and I took Colin with me because he wanted to see Link very badly. Something about seeing him die in his dreams, I don't know. We are desperate for help."

Just then, Zelda came to the gate and demanded that the guard open it for them. The guard did as he was asked and Rusl and Colin came inside. Colin looked up at Zelda and simply asked her,

"Where's Link?"

"He is inside the castle, child. Christina, please escort these two to a room inside. They look lie they are in need of some rest."

"I need to see Link. I have to know that he's okay."

"Colin," I said, "Link is just fine. He's inside the castle, but he might be busy. Tell you what, I'll find him and let him know that you want to see him. Once you get some rest, you can see him. Is that all right?"

"NO! I need to see him now!"

I gave his father a questioning look, which was only returned to me. I said,

"All right, all right. Rusl, would it be all right with you I took Colin to see Link while you get some rest? I'll get him back to you as soon as he's had a chance to see that Link is okay."

"I don't care. I just need some sleep without having my dreams disturbed by some dark shadow that I can't even touch."

"Thank you, daddy," said Colin.

I got Rusl settled into one of the guest beds and I took Colin to the stables where he could get a chance to see the horses and where I knew that Link had probably gone after he had gotten Zelda. It had become a bit of a habit of his to do that. Once Colin saw Link's back, he let go of my hand and glommed himself onto Link's leg like I had seen him to only a few months back, only this time he did it, not because he was happy, but because he was relieved. What had Gannondorf been doing to this little boy's dreams that had reduced the poor child to this? Link was immediately surprised when he felt something grab his leg, and he almost drew his sword, but when he looked down and saw that it was Colin he got down on his knees as gracefully as he could as his belly was starting to get in the way, and wrapped the boy in a huge hug.

"Colin, what's wrong?"

"I thought you were dead! I saw you die so many times and I had to make sure that you were okay! I'm sorry Link, I just had to know."

Colin sobbed into Link's shoulder and Link held him very protectively. I could see fury in his eyes as he held the small boy, and I knew that he was thinking of Gannondorf. Link pulled Colin away from him and held his eyes within his own,

"Colin, I promise you that you will not have those nightmares tonight. Here you will find rest and you won't see that shadow."

Link spoke too soon. As soon as he had said that, Colin looked up and got a look of sheer terror on his face and buried himself into Link. The horses began to scream, and they reared up hitting the doors trying to get away from something. I too was looking at it, and what I saw terrified me: the Shadow-Shape that I hadn't seen in almost three months had morphed into the form of Rusl holding a sword. But his face was far more evil and malignant than I had ever beheld on any normal person, and he had an air about himself that screamed of malice, evil, and hatred. He looked at us and said,

"Ahh, Link…I see that you are developing quite well. Behaving like the perfect brood mare? Keep at it 'Hero.' By the way, how is the Princess?"

Link pushed Colin away from him and said,

"Go back to the castle." Colin took off, and Link drew the Master Sword and I drew mine. We turned our attention to the Thing that looked like Rusl and Link retorted,

"Scaring small children, Gannon? That is low, even for you."

"Oh, my dear 'Hero,' that is just small potatoes. What I have planned for you is going to ensure that you will finally be destroyed and your student will come to me."

"I've already told you, Gannon," I said, "I'll never betray Link and Zelda!"

"Put your swords away, I'm not here to fight: I'm here to make sure that you are training my disciple properly, 'Hero.' I don't see how you can with that."

He pointed at Link's growing middle, and Link put his shield up in front of him. The Thing tilted its head back and laughed,

"Don't worry, I'm not going to touch you, but I would keep a close eye on everyone who you care about: you never know what could happen; and Christina…remember what we talked about. You're time is running out."

"Why don't you start making sense, Gannon? I have had enough of riddles and mysteries, so tell me what is you want from me!"

"All in good time. Now, I bid you a fond farewell and Link; keep a sharp eye out."

It disappeared again, leaving Link and I alone in the stables with frightened horses, who took an hour to calm down. Once we did, we sat down beside each other and Link said,

"What do you think he wants from you?"

"I think he ultimately wants me dead, but if he can get me to join him that would be great for him. He probably already knows about our Bond of Trust and if he can get me to betray it then it would mean my death no matter what. Yes he wants me dead, but why? What did I do that he needs me out of the way so bad?"

"I'm not sure, and I don't know how to figure this out any more. All I can do at this point is keep training you and hope that when our son is born Gannon will finally meet his end."

"Speaking of our son, Link…have you felt him move?"

"I can't tell. If he is it's slight right now…ow!"

He looked down at his rather rotund middle and placed his hand on the right side of his belly.

"I think he just made it clear that he can't be ignored anymore."

"He moved?"

"I think he whacked me in the ribs pretty good."

"Can I feel?"

"Here."

Link took my hand and placed it on the place where he had felt it movement, then I felt it: my son pressed against my hand with his little foot, and I looked up at Link and beamed.

"Did you feel that?" he asked me.

"Yeah, I did. My God, that's amazing. You sure you didn't feel anything like that before?"

"I felt something like…I don't know, flutters, but this was the first time he really kicked hard."

"So cool. Hey, Link?"

"Hmm?"

"What do we name him?"

"Oh, do we have to do that now?"

"Well maybe not RIGHT now, but when he's born he's going to need a name."

"I'm not good with names…you pick."

Difficult to a fault, as always; oh well.

"What are some good Hylian names?

"Well, there is one name that is sticking in my head for some reason."

"What is it?"

"Roy."

"Really? Hmm."

"You don't like it?"

"Well maybe for a middle name."

"Middle name?"

"Where I come from everyone has three names: first, middle, last. The first name is what the parents decide to give to their kids and who they will be known as for the rest of their lives. The second name is a little more obscure, but it is usually given to keep a particular name alive within a family. When it is a boy it is usually the father's name, and if it is a girl it is the feminine of the father's name. The last name is who they are recognized as for a family and a lineage."

"So what are your middle and last names?"

"Mikaela Rowland."

"Christina Mikaela Rowland?"

"Yep."

"Huh. Then in keeping with tradition, I suppose that he should have first name from your world and his middle name will be mine."

"Really? 'Cause I've always wanted to name my firstborn son 'Aiden.'"

"Aiden Link?"

"Could be good."

"What does 'Aiden' even mean?"

"It means 'Compassion.' I named Cael from the same language of Gaelic from my world."

"'Compassion.' Well, a hero's got to have compassion for the innocent as well as a heart of gold and a talent with the sword. All right then: 'Aiden Link' it is."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, sounds good to me."

"Okay."

Link and I stayed there for a few more minutes talking about training and such and then Link got a bit of a panicked look and said,

"I need to go check on something. You go to the practicing field and wait for me there."

I went to the field and did a little target practice with my bow and arrow. A few minutes later, Link arrived with Colin in tow. The poor boy was looking utterly miserable and scared."

"Christina, can you do a huge service to Colin?"

"What is it?"

"Let him borrow your cloak this evening. He is so scared right now that he can't even process his thoughts."

I took off my cloak and I knelt before Colin.

"This is a special gift, Colin. This was made by the Goddesses to guard dreams so that no paralyzing nightmares will bother you. I'm going to let you borrow this and when you put it on I think that you will feel better immediately."

I took the cloak and I fastened the clasp around Colin's little neck. I was right. The second that cloak touched his shoulders; I saw his face soften and his body relax. He hugged me real hard and then turned to Link.

"Link can I see something?"

"What is it?"

"Can you kneel down?"

Link got on his knees quite awkwardly and Colin placed his little hands on Link's belly. Link was about to say something, but he knew he had been found out so he just took Colin's hands and asked,

"Why did you want to see my stomach?"

"Well, you look bigger than the last time I saw you, and I did what you said and I asked my mom and dad about where babies come from."

Link turned beet red and asked Colin,

"What did they say?"

"They got real red like you just did and asked me why I asked that question. When I told them that you said I should ask them about it, they got real embarrassed and dad asked me why I would even go to you with a question like that. Then I told them that you're tummy felt like mommy's did before she had my little brother, and then they just laughed and said they would explain when I was older."

Link looked at me and gave me a look that said 'what should I do?' I shrugged because I didn't know myself and then Link sighed and said,

"Colin, I've never been able to deceive you. Out of all the kids in the village you were always the most observant. Here, give me your hand."

Link took Colin's hand and placed it on his right side. Soon enough Colin got a surprised look on his face and stepped back a little from Link.

"That felt exactly like my little brother before he was born. Link I thought you said that only ladies could do that."

"Oh, boy…um…normally they can, but I…um…Christina you explain."

Oh great! Colin turned his questioning face to me and I said,

"Colin, um, it's hard to explain, but I'll do my best. You know that Thing that looked like your dad back in the stables?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that wasn't your dad."

"I know that, who was it?"

"It was a very bad person. This person has a weapon that can make him look like other people and this weapon can also make people see horrible nightmares that are very hard to understand because they seem so real. Those dreams that you were having about Link dying were the result of that weapon. Who you felt inside Link is the only person who can defeat this bad person. As soon as he is born he will go to the Sacred Realm and he will come back to us all grown up and make the bad person go away."

I didn't know how to explain any better than that, but then Colin asked,

"But I thought only ladies could have babies. Why are you having one, Link?"

"Because I need to. No one else can have the One who's going to defeat the bad person, and I have to do it."

"Oh. Who's the mommy then?"

"I am, Colin."

Colin looked at me with a surprised look on his face.

"I know, big surprise right? But Colin, listen: you can't tell anyone that we told you this. It would ruin a lot of things and the bad person might figure out more that he needs to."

"Okay, I won't say anything. You can trust me."

Link held Colin's eyes within his and said,

"I mean it: not a word; not even to your dad. I'll talk to him"

"I promise not to say anything to anyone."

"All right then. Now, go to the castle and get some rest. You look exhausted."

Colin beamed at Link and then looked down at his belly and wrapped his arms around Link's waist.

"Goodnight, baby. I'll see you when you're born."

That could have been just about one of the sweetest things I had ever seen, and I had a girly moment.

"Awwww! That's so cute!"

Link shot me daggers with his eyes, and I shut my mouth. Colin released Link and took off for the castle with my cloak wrapped around him like a pair of bat wings that were too big for him. Link turned his attention to me and said,

"I have never heard you say anything like that, ever. What prompted that?"

"I don't know. That was just sweet."

I was smiling at Link and he just sighed and said,

"Come one, let's finish your training for the day."

After an exhausting day, I knew that I was definitely getting the hang of this whole fighting thing and I was nearly ready. In just a few short months the final battle would be upon us. This time it would mean life or death; no room for error. Link had told me that my training was nearly complete and that we could probably expect more people over the next several weeks. It had been a happy day as well. My son finally had a name: Aiden. It was a name from my world and Link had honored the tradition of my world, which told me that he very dearly cared for me. I cared for him as well, but I had someone back home waiting for me, and when my task was complete here, whatever it was, I knew that I would see him again. That day would be the happiest of my life.


	12. Chapter 12

That morning, I awoke and went to the practicing field with Cael as was usual, but I was met by the soldier rather than Link. I assumed that he was feeling too sick, and that nasty scarlet liquid had not worked that morning. After a few hours of practicing with the soldier, I heard a blood-curdling scream come from someone in the castle and the soldier and I went to investigate. We got to the entrance, and we met one of the servants who looked like she had just seen a ghost. She wrapped her arms around the soldier and sobbed into his armor. We both tried to comfort her and get her to tell us what had happened, but after a few moments of that I knew that I could no information out of her, so I went inside the castle to try to get some kind of information. The sight that beheld my eyes was disastrous: unconscious servants everywhere, furniture overturned, and Zelda was nowhere to be found. Where was she and where was Link? I ran to his room, and I found him fast asleep. I shouted,

"LINK!"

Nothing; no movement, no sound, he just did not respond. I got scared. I jumped on his bed and checked to see if he was even breathing. I found that he was, and he had a pulse but he would not wake up. I continued to try to shake him and call his name, but he just wouldn't do anything. Then I got scared for my unborn son: he might be in danger as well. I ran a quick check to see if I detected a heartbeat and I found it, but I couldn't feel him moving either. What was going ON? Just then little Colin walked into Link's room, rubbing his eyes, with my cloak still draped around him.

"Christina, what's going on? Why is everyone screaming?"

Then he saw Link lying there unconscious. He got a look of sheer panic in his eyes and ran to the bed and jumped on it.

"What's wrong with him? What happened?"

"I don't know, Colin. That's what I'm trying to figure out."

Then I thought of something,

"Colin, let me see the cloak that I let you borrow yesterday."

Colin gave me my cloak back and I spread it out over Link's body. The response was nearly immediate. His bright blue eyes opened and he saw me and Colin sitting on his bed with very worried expressions on our faces.

"Wha….what's going on? Why are you two here and what time is it?"

I spoke up,

"I don't know what's going on here, Link, but we've got problems. Downstairs the castle looks like it was ransacked, nobody can find Zelda and you were completely unresponsive until I spread my cloak over you."

"I was unresponsive? Oh my God, AIDEN! Is he okay? Did you check him?"

"He's fine, Link. He's all right. I think that whatever happened to you affected him as well though; can you feel him move?"

"No, I…"

He got a look of pain and relief,

"Yes, I can. He's okay."

"Both Colin and I felt immediate relief, and then Link went into action. He said,

"I need to find out what's going on; let's go downstairs and see what we can find out."

I hastily agreed, and Colin wanted to follow.

"I want to help, Link."

"Colin, listen: you can help by making sure that you're dad is okay. Then I need you to stay with him until we get back. Can you do that for me?"

I could tell that Colin wanted to go with Link, but he didn't argue.

"Fine, but I'm not happy (pout)."

I beamed at Colin and gave him a kiss on the forehead. Then I put my cloak back on and followed Link downstairs with my sword drawn. Once we got there, much of the chaos had been taken care of and a lot of the furniture had been put back to right, but still: no Zelda. Link said,

"Does anyone know what happened here?"

The servant who had run out to me and the soldier stepped forward and said,

"It's all hazy, but I was serving tea in the library to the Princesses and a huge black shadow appeared and took them both. It left with them! I don't know how it did it! Zelda screamed and I couldn't do anything to stop it because I was thrown against the wall."

The poor girl broke down into tears again, and I comforted her while Link began to walk away as fast as he could towards Zelda's chambers. I quickly left the girl to her friends and followed him. He got there before me, and I found him standing inside Zelda's room looking red in the face. I had only ever seen him that angry once, and that was when Zelda had told him that he was pregnant. He was furious and he wanted vengeance.

"That bastard has kidnapped her for the last time. I will have his head on a PIKE and then I'll throw his body to the vultures!"

He turned towards the door and flew past me, and grabbed my arm as he ran by.

"We are going to settle this once and for all! I am not having Zelda become the victim of whatever plot that Gannondorf is trying to concoct!"

He dragged me towards the library, but we were stopped. That Shadow-Shape appeared in front of us and it said,

"Ah, I'm glad to see that you are up and about, 'Hero.' That the little enchanted sleep I put on you didn't harm you too bad; thank the Goddesses for your student, eh?"

"WHAT DID YOU DO WITH ZELDA?"

"Didn't I warn you to keep a close eye on those you cared about? Now it seems that we need to make a deal: you give your little student to me, and I return the Princesses to you safe and sound. No one is harmed, and we both get what we want."

Link went from defensive and angry to stunned and hurt. This was the trade he needed to perform? All of our lives were in his hands and once again the task had fallen to him to make an impossible choice: trading the life of the mother of his child for Zelda and Midna's.

'I can't make that decision, Gannon."

"Then the Princesses stay with me, and you fail in your endeavor to save Hyrule and the Twilight Realm."

I surprised Link by speaking up,

"I'll go with you, Gannon."

Link looked at me with shock and awe,

"Christina, no! If you go with him, he'll kill you!"

"Link, if I don't then Zelda and Midna will die, and Hyrule and the Twilight Realm will be without their rulers. However, I will only go on one condition."

"And what might that be, my weak disciple?"

"We make the trade in a place of my choosing."

"Ah, it seems to me that you are not the one holding all the cards. So, you do this my way, or I kill them both."

I looked at him, and said,

"Can I at least get a chance to say goodbye to Link?"

He appeared to think for a second and said,

"I suppose it can't hurt. After all, every prisoner should get a last request. I'll leave you two alone for five minutes. If you can't get all your goodbyes out before then, well that's just too bad."

He dissipated into the air, and I turned around to Link and said,

"There is a reason that I am doing this."

"What, giving your life up? You swore that you wouldn't leave my side and go to him! You swore, Christina!"

"I am hoping that the Princesses will be able to tell you where he is residing. If you can find that, then you can rescue me."

I took off my cloak and gave it to him.

"Please take this. It may help you find me."

Link's eyes shone with tears for the second time since I had seen him, and once again I felt my heart rip in two. He wrapped me in his arms and said,

"I'll find you. I swear on Aiden's life I'll find you, and when I do I'm going to destroy that son of a bitch!"

He kissed me passionately, and this time I didn't try to stop him. I brought his lips to mine, threatening to crush them, and I felt as though this would be the last time I would see my teacher, my friend, and my Hero. That Shadow-Shape appeared in the midst of that kiss, and said,

"Aww, how sweet: two young people in love. Truly nothing pulls at the heartstrings more. However, you're five minutes are up, and the girl comes with me."

Releasing Link from my arms was the hardest thing I had ever had to do, but we needed to find out where Gannondorf was. I looked at Link, knelt down in front of him and put my hands and ear against his belly,

"I love you, Aiden. I'll be back soon."

I kissed Link's belly and I felt my son press against my hand. It broke my heart again to do that, and then I got up on my feet and faced the demon that had haunted my dreams for the past several months. I said to him,

"I want you're word on the Triforce of Power that the Princesses will be returned safe and alive to this castle once I have gone with you."

"I promise that they will be returned in the condition that I took them. They will not be harmed."

I took a deep breath and said,

"I'm ready."

The black shadow enveloped me within its clutches and I felt like I had been gripped by ice. It penetrated to my very soul, and I could not get free. All around was blackness and the sensation of falling. Soon the darkness dissipated and I found that I had indeed been falling because I hit the ground of a dirty dungeon floor quite hard and I hit the shoulder that Link had cut. I looked up and saw the Shadow-Shape still there, but somehow it seemed more solid than it usually did. It spoke to me with that same voice, though,

"Go to the wall."

I did as I was told, and once I reached it I found two tall, evil looking creatures waiting for me. Each of them took an arm of mine and fastened them to irons hanging from the slimy bricks. After they had done that, the Shadow-Shape stepped closer to me and said,

'Now you are in my domain, and you're precious 'Hero' can't find you here. You have all failed. By turning yourself over to me you have broken you're Bond and your demise is imminent."

"I may have turned myself over to you, but you will never get me to claim you as my master. I have not broken my Bond, and my son will still destroy you."

I was slapped hard in the face,

"You will be silent! You are not here to make empty threats against me, and soon enough you will claim me as your master and I will make you do as you did in your dream all those months ago. Do you remember? Of course you do my weak disciple. Yes, I will make you cut your son out of your 'Hero' and you will watch as Hyrule and the Twilight Realm come under my power."

I looked away and said nothing.

"Ahh, I see I have rendered you speechless. Well, enjoy you're new home and feel free to lament your failure. I shall see you again soon."

The Shadow-Shape dissipated and the two creatures left. After they left, I got a chance to look around at my surroundings and see if I could identify where I was. Unfortunately I couldn't see much except a little sunlight through a window that was above me and facing me and I perceived a smell that was like rotten fish. I could only hope that Link, Zelda and Midna would find me soon and get me out of this desolate place. Meanwhile, back at Hyrule castle, Link was stood there looking at the floor. There was a bit of shadow there that refused to go away, and it formed a ring. Within seconds in that ring, Zelda and Midna had taken the spot where I had stood, the ring dissipated, and they lay on the floor unconscious. Link knelt down to help them and found that once he had put the cloak that I had given him over their bodies, they were immediately revived. They looked around, and the first thing out of Zelda's mouth was,

"Where's Christina?"

"She traded herself for you two. She was hoping that you could identify where you were being held, and in that way we could find her and Gannondorf."

Zelda and Midna looked downcast, and Midna said,

"We couldn't really see where we were. All we knew was that we were in a dungeon somewhere and it was dank."

Link sat down on the ground, and put his back against the wall. He looked up at the Princesses and asked,

"What are we going to do? I need her here. She needs to see her son being born; I can't do this without her!"

Zelda knelt in front of him, lovingly took his hands, and held his eyes within hers and said,

"Then let's get her back."

They set to work immediately. The Princesses did their very best to try and remember where they were, but all they could recall was a dank dungeon that smelled like rotten fish and a window that they could see a little sunlight through. Then Midna had an idea.

"What if you became the Divine Beast again, Link? You could lock onto her with your senses and we could find her that way."

"Do we even have that stone anymore?"

Midna reached into the folds of her robe and brought it forward.

"I've always kept it on me just in case we would ever need it again. It was a brave thing that she did, and if she had not given herself over I would not have known how to get this to you."

Then Zelda said,

"Wait a moment, how do we know that turning him into a wolf won't harm the baby?"

"She's right, Midna," said Link, "I don't think Aiden would appreciate going from human to wolf and how do we even know that my body can handle that kind of stress? Besides, Zelda, you said that my body could only take a fraction of what it used to before I got this way."

"Do we really have a choice here, and what is an Aiden?"

"Oh, that's what Christina and I named our son: Aiden Link."

"What does that even mean?"

"She said it meant 'Compassion.'"

The princesses looked sympathetically at Link, and they knew that they had glimpsed something close to his heart, and then Midna said,

"We need to give this a try. Only you can become the Divine Beast, and it seems to be our only option at this point. Please, Link."

Link looked down at his growing middle, placed his hand on it and said,

"I'm sorry, son. I have to make a change and you're not going to like it."

He took a deep breath and said,

"Midna go ahead."

He closed his eyes as he felt the familiar cold touch of the stone that would allow him to transform back and forth from human to wolf. He felt himself find the need to get down on all fours and once the transformation was complete he fell over on his side panting. Turns out he had been right. Aiden did not appreciate that change at all, and now Link was carrying a wolf pup instead of a human being. It had been difficult, and both Princesses knew that he could probably do that one more time, but that was it. Otherwise there would be major problems. Once Link had recovered from his transformation, he got up on his four feet and looked at the Princesses. Midna said to him,

"I'll go with you like I did last time, and I'll hide in your shadow. Something tells me you might need some backup. Now, do we have anything of hers that you might be able to get a scent with?"

He immediately went to the cloak that I had given him, and got my scent. Then he picked up the cloak and gave it to Midna.

"Do you want to me give this back to her after we find her?"

He whined in affirmation and Midna said,

"All right, then. Let's go."

She put the cloak inside her robes and transformed into a shadow which quickly melded with Link's. He looked up at Zelda with his bright blue eyes, and Zelda put her hand on his head and said,

"Bring her back safely. She has a greater burden to bear than she can even guess at."

Link barked, and Zelda fastened the Master Sword onto his back, and he took off as fast as he could. Unfortunately, he had a hard time finding where I was. My scent was so faint that sometimes he could not even detect it and when he found it again he had to make sure that it was even mine. Three days he went on like this. He managed to find enough food, as his new form had given him the abilities to hunt and forage better than he would of he was human, however he was getting weary. Midna could tell that the travel was wearing on him and my scent grew colder every day. They might have to give up soon if Link could not find a stronger indication of where I was. Then a break: Late on the third night of looking, they were at the Upper Zora River. At the bottom of the river was a natural dam that had caused the water to pool and this had had trapped a lot of fish. The wind changed direction and the faint stench of rotten fish hit Link's nostrils, and he pawed and whined at Midna to wake up. He indicated to her that he wanted to travel down to that pool once she had woken up enough to understand him. She changed back into her shadow form and Link took off for the smelly pool. Once he reached it he smelled the area for any indication of me, but he hardly needed it. There were several guards on top of the dam and beyond the pool on the other side of the dam was a small brick building that looked abandoned. Midna said,

"Phew, this is exactly what I remember smelling when I was captured. But why in the world would Gannondorf stash his prisoners here? What does he hope to do: stink them to death?"

Link continued on in hoping to get past the guards looking like a ferocious, all be it, chubby, beast. Turns out he was wrong. One of the guards immediately recognized him, and began firing arrows. Luckily Midna was a capable fighter and came to Link's aid. Using her magic, she took out the guards on top of the dam which prevented more of them from coming to the rescue of their companions. Once the guards were gone, Link walked on top of the dam and onto the other side of the shore where the brick building was. Midna, in her shadow form, crept under the door and opened it from the other side letting in Link. Once inside Midna saw the window that she had been able to look out of while she had been captured. She looked down the staircase and saw a human figure whose arms were chained to the wall. Link whined with concern and hurried down the stairs with Midna close behind. They reached the figure who looked up at them with tired eyes.

"M...Midna?" I said, "You found me."

It was all I could say. They hadn't fed me for those three days, and all I had gotten was a little water that wasn't even fresh and stunk of the fish outside. Soon my relief was tainted with fear because the Shadow-Shape appeared in the room again.

"Oh, I see that a rescue party has come. Let's see who it consists of: a Princess and a pregnant wolf. Oh, yes truly a formidable army, but I'm afraid that you have arrived too late. She belongs to me now."

Midna took my cloak out from under her robes and quickly tossed it to Link who had been inching closer to me the while the Shadow-Shape had been talking. He touched my feet with it and my mind immediately felt more capable of handling this situation. This was truly a divine gift. In spite of my newfound mental strength, my body was still weak. I was still chained to the wall and couldn't move and the only person with a pair of free hands was Midna. Luckily she proved to be a most capable opponent again. She fought shadow with shadow and proved to be stronger with her magic, but Gannon proved to be stronger with his mental manipulation. He transformed into a replica of a man who I could only guess to be her father, because as soon as he made that change her guard dropped and she took a lovely punch to the stomach. She doubled over trying to catch her breath and Link attacked the Thing. Then the unthinkable: the Shadow-Shape kicked Link squarely in the stomach causing him to howl in pain and he lay against the wall cringing and whining. That did it for me. Seeing my friends treated in such a manner cause me to find something within myself to break those irons that held me, but while I did this I noticed that the Triforce on Link's paw was glowing fiercely. I picked up my cloak and put it on, and then I picked up the Master Sword that Link had brought with him and I shouted at the Thing,

"YOU HURT MY SON, YOU BASTARD! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

I swung the sword and to my surprise, I actually felt it cut something. The Shadow was more solid than I expected. Gannondorf's body must be nearer than I thought if the Shadow-Shape was this solid. After I cut it the Thing dissipated into the ground and I immediately went to Link who was still cringing and whining in pain from that kick.

"Link! Oh God, don't you die on me! Midna, help me!"

Midna was still trying to recover from the punch to her own belly, but even so she made it to Link's side.

"I have to (gasp) change him back (gasp) or he'll die."

I held the poor wolf that, as a man, had held me so many times in the past. I looked into his eyes and I saw pain, fear, and concern. I put my hand on his belly and said,

"Don't worry; we'll get you fixed up. You'll be okay and so will Aiden."

Midna pulled that black and orange stone from her robes and almost touched Link with it but I stopped her.

"Can we get him to a spring with sacred water before you do that?"

"I can try. It's been a long time since we warped anywhere and the portals may be gone by now."

"We don't have time to argue! Please help him!"

Midna hurriedly concentrated, and we were lucky. The mark that the Twilight Realm had left on the world of light was still there, but it was faint. Midna sensed the nearest portal, the one by Lanaryu's Spring. We warped there quickly and I picked up Link and took him inside. He was in so much pain, he was crying. The whines and cry that elicited from his core were more heart-wrenching than seeing his actual tears. Midna took out the black and orange stone and touched it to his belly. As I held him, he was enveloped in blackness and I quickly saw his skinny back legs change into muscular human ones, his forepaws into two human arms, and his snout and doggy head disappear and become human once more. As soon as he had his human voice again, he screamed. It was a scream of pure anguish. His face was contorted into a mask of pure pain, and I saw blood staining the clothes between his legs. He held his large, round belly with both hands as I held him and Midna helped me get him into the water. Then a miracle: Lanaryu himself, the Golden Serpent, appeared before us. His gentle voice said,

"Hero of the Light, neither you nor your unborn shall perish this day."

The water glowed with a bright golden light, and it enveloped Link. The Triforce on his hand glowed more brightly than I had ever seen it, and after a few moments the light disappeared. Lanaryu said,

"Gannondorf has been hiding near my spring in a small hollow beneath the dam that is blocking the river. You will not find him there now though as he walks abroad now amongst the people of Hyrule and the Twilight Realm. He takes the shape of both, and his favorite is a peasant farmer who no one would suspect of any harm. He moves best at night, and his full power is nearly realized. Once your son is born, he will be able to take the shapes of those who are sacred to Hyrule, like me. Be warned Hero."

Then he disappeared into the water and all returned to the way it was before. Link looked at me with exhaustion in his bright sapphire eyes and said,

"Thank you."

"You taught me well, my friend. Are you in any more pain?"

"No, the pain is gone; but I swear I'm going to murder that monster for hurting our son."

Midna said,

"Rest, Link. You're tired and you need rest."

At that word, my strength that I had been relying on gave out and I passed out.

"You need it too, Heroine. Rest up all you can, the both of you; you are going to need it against Gannondorf in the Final Battle."

* * *

Author's note:

Thanks everyone for reading my story. As usual reviews are appreciated and desired. Thanks again


	13. Chapter 13

Link looked at Midna and said,

"I can't rest yet knowing that she is hurt and weak like this. Midna, we have to get her back to the castle. If she stays like this much longer without some kind of help, she'll die."

Midna looked at me and felt my breathing and my pulse.

"You're right. Wait a minute: what are these marks on her arms?"

Link looked at my arms and recognized the shapes of fire irons. Anger filled his face again and he said to Midna,

"Put her arms in the water. It has healing properties."

Midna did as she was asked, and my wounds healed quickly leaving no trace behind. After that was done, he said,

"Go ahead and take her outside. I'll be there in a minute."

Midna scooped my unconscious body from the ground and took me outside the cave. Link watched until she had left and then turned back to the Spring.

"Lanaryu…thank you for saving me and for healing my friend's arms."

Lanaryu's voice reverberated throughout the cave,

"You are welcome, Hero. Go now and take your friend to a healer for her greater wounds; she has been through much, and still has much more to endure."

That puzzled him, but he went outside and met Midna.

"Can you warp the three of us out of here?"

"I can try. The portals are so faint that I can barely tell where they are anymore."

Midna gathered her strength and tried to feel for one. Then all three of us were enveloped in darkness and broken up into tiny black squares. When we landed, Midna discovered that she had overshot it: we were back in Kakariko Village. At least there was a healer here. Link rushed to Renado's house while Midna stayed behind with me. He pounded on the door and after a moment Renado appeared. At his first look at Link, he was shocked!

"Link! What happened to you? Your stomach…"

"No time to explain. Do you remember the girl who gave you the medicine a while back when you were attacked?"

"You mean that girl with the copper-colored hair who was with the Gorons? Yes I remember."

"She's in trouble, and needs help. She's over by Eldin's Spring."

Renado quickly turned to go back inside. He emerged with a medicine bag and went to the spring where Midna and I were waiting. Midna had put me in the water to try to heal more of my wounds and while it was somewhat working, it wasn't fast enough. Renado knelt down next to me and quickly examined me. After he was done he turned to Link and said,

"Bring her inside; the water can do no more for her."

Midna picked me up eliciting another questioning look from Renado. Link held up his hand and said,

"I'll explain later."

They got me inside, gave me some medicine, and put me to bed. Then the three of them sat around a table and Renado demanded answers.

"All right, what's going on here? Link, you show up here with two women: one of which is too regal looking to be anything but royalty, and the other severely wounded. You look like you've gained a ton of weight, and you still haven't told me what your huge secret is from the last time you were here. When you were here last time, you said you didn't want to talk about it, but it's time we talked about it. We've been having problems here, and I have the feeling that everything that's going on with you is connected to our problems."

"What have your problems been, Renado?"

"Horrible nightmares that drain us of our strength. No one can sleep at night and there are scathing rumors around the village about several of our inhabitants and our mountain neighbors."

Link sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"You're right, Renado. I haven't been totally honest with you. I do have a secret, and it's hard for me to admit. Midna I'm going to need some help here."

He went into a long explanation of the Cloak of Shadows, the circumstances of my kidnapping, and how Gannondorf needed to be defeated by the child born to him and me. When he was done talking Renado asked,

"But that still doesn't explain why you look like you swallowed a beach ball. If this child needs to be born to the two of you, then why doesn't she look pregnant?

Link took a deep breath and said,

"Renado, give me your hand."

Reluctantly, Renado did as he was asked and Link put Renado's hand on his stomach. After a second Renado pulled his hand back like he'd been burned.

"What was that? Something moved inside of you!"

"Renado, when I found out that only mine and Christina's child could save Hyrule, the task fell to me to carry him. I'm the Hero of the Light, and I'm the only one who can do this because he needs to be born of Light. She was born of shadow and therefore if she were to do this, it would have no effect on Gannondorf. I didn't ask for it, it was forced on me…and it's the only way to win."

Renado sat back in his chair with an expression of shock and awe on his kind face. He didn't know what to say except,

"Wha…how…um, Link; how is this possible?"

Midna chimed in with an explanation of how Link had shown up in my world, and the spell that she and Zelda had performed on us. After she was done, Renado said,

"Well, then I suppose that we have no other choice. However, I do have a question; if all she is here for was to provide the other parent to create this child, then why hasn't she gone home yet? Why is she still here?"

Link said,

"I don't know. Zelda said that she had a greater burden to bear than she could begin to guess at, and then Lanaryu said the same thing. I thought she would have gone home by now as well, but I have been training her to fight, and the Goddesses granted her and Zelda the knowledge to help me give birth my son. All I can think is she has some greater purpose that she needs to discover. Oh, and Zelda also said that, 'she would discover her power at the end of all things,' whatever that means. She's powerful enough already."

"Is she?"

Midna said,

"She picked up the Master Sword and was able to use it."

"That is powerful. Hmm, well then I suppose that all we can do is…" 

(CRASH!)

The sound of a body thudding on floor brought the three of them running to my room. They found me sprawled out on the floor screaming,

"NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Renado tried to shake me awake, and I responded by giving him a punch to the stomach.

"Oof! Ow! You're right, Link…she is powerful; ugh."

"Oh my God, I'm sorry! I was having a nightmare."

"Oops, I forgot to put your cloak on you," said Midna.

"It was a bad one. We have got to get rid of that…uh…you know."

I was looking from Link to Renado when I said this; unaware that he had been informed of everything.

Link said,

"It's all right: he knows."

"Everything?"

"Everything that we do."

"Even…about you?"

"Yes."

"Oh, ok."

I laid back on the pillow feeling utterly weak. No food and burns from hot pokers for three days had taken everything out of me. Link pulled my cloak over me and said,

"Get some rest now, and don't let bad dreams plague you anymore."

"Okay."

I promptly fell back to sleep, and the three of them went back outside of the room. Renado observed,

"You care about that girl a lot, don't you?"

"I have strong feelings for her, but I don't love her in the same way that I do Zelda. Christina is the mother of my firstborn, and will therefore always have a place in my heart, but after this is all over I wanted to ask Zelda an important question. I only hope her answer is yes."

Midna said,

"Zelda has been waiting for you to ask her for the longest time. She was terribly afraid that you didn't love her anymore because of what she had to do to you."

"I'll admit that I was angry with the both of you, and I wanted to escape from this. But I love her, and nothing will ever change that."

Renado replied,

"Well then, we look forward to this being over. In the meantime, please feel free to any of the food in the pantry and I'll keep an eye on Christina."

Before he left, Link turned back to Renado and said,

"Renado, do me a favor; when she wakes up let me be the first to know."

"As you wish, my friend." 

"Thank you."

Link and Midna went to the pantry and ate their fill of the abundant stores that Renado had sealed away down there. Afterwards, Link paid a visit to the hot spring just above the inn. It was getting dark and there would be nobody up there but him. He stripped himself down to his undergarments in relaxed his aching body in the warm water. He started to feel sleepy and began to doze off. Suddenly he was woken by the very phantom that had been plaguing me! He remained as calm as he could as the Shadow-Shape got close to him, but Link had no sword and no way to defend himself. The Thing grabbed him around the neck and said,

"I'm going to hurt you the same way your girlfriend hurt me."

The Thing eyed his body up and down and mused,

"Let's see, what can I cut on you that will hurt you just as deeply as my shoulder does? Oh, I know: your precious, little boy. So sad for him to die, and he's not even born yet."

Link got angry and wrenched himself out of Gannondorf's clutches. He landed on his feet and quickly ran down the staircase leading to the entrance of the inn one hand on his neck and other on his stomach. He was stopped again.

"No, no, no, 'Hero.'"

Link tried to run past the Thing, but he was caught by the hair and thrown to the ground.

"I should have just taken the thing from your belly when I had the chance. Well now I have a chance again, and you're not getting away."

The Shadow-Shape leered over Link like a monster, savoring every second.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE, GANNON!"

The Shadow-Shape looked up and saw Midna standing there.

"Ah, Twilight Princess; come to watch?"

"Link, catch!"

Midna threw an article of clothing at him, and before Gannon had a chance to react Link threw on the cloak, and took up the Master Sword that had been wrapped in it. He brandished it against his enemy and said,

"Leave this village, now!"

"As you wish for now. 'Hero.'"

The Thing dissipated like smoke, and Link dropped his sword and fell to his knees groaning and clutching his stomach with both hands.

"Link! What's the matter?"

"I don't know! Get Renado!"

Midna quickly got the shaman, and they got Link up on his feet and into the inn. After examining him, Renado said,

"We may have a problem. He got so stressed out that it might have caused him to go into an early labor. I need to stop it and I need your help, Lady Midna."

"I can't! I haven't been taught this!"

"You're the only one available right now, and I need your help! Now calm down before we upset Link any further."

"No, you don't understand…I can't do this. It's not my job…it's hers."

Midna pointed at me and Renado looked.

"Lady Midna, does she look like she's of any good to anyone right now?"

"Please just wait a moment."

Midna ran to me and shook me awake. I looked at her and said,

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"Link's hurt and needs your help."

"I bolted out of bed, and crashed on the floor. My legs were still weak and didn't want to behave. Nonetheless, I did my best and got there as fast as I could. I saw my friend laying on the table his face a mask of pain again and I was floored.

"Renado, what happened?"

"He may be in early labor, and I need to stop it."

I listened to Aiden's heart and I felt Link's belly.

"Link, you need to calm down. That's what's causing your pain. You're stressing out and it's causing Aiden pain as well."

"I'm…trying! OW!"

"Christina, we need to get him to Eldin's Spring. That's the only way of stopping this."

"Okay, but my legs won't work…Midna can you help him?"

"Yes."

Both Renado and Midna managed to get him down to the Spring and get him in the water. As soon as Link was immersed, his pain stopped and he felt better, but he was still angry.

"How much longer do I have to go through this? If I'm not at the castle, then I have to worry about stuff like this! Midna we have got to get back there, soon. The longer we stay here the more likely the possibility that we will all get severely hurt."

"I agree, but what about everybody else here? We can't just leave them."

"I agree; Renado, pack your essentials and make your way to the castle. It's the only safe place in Hyrule right now. Let everyone in the village know, and I'll see you there shortly."

He got up out of the water and walked, actually it was more like waddling, back to the inn with Midna to get me. Once they got there, Midna helped me to my feet and then outside. Once the three of us were together, Link picked up a piece of grass shaped like a horseshoe and blew into it. The sound that came from it was haunting and in a few minutes I saw Epona running towards us. Then he gave the piece of grass to me to blow. I blew into it, heard the melody, and I saw Cael coming the same way that Epona had. Once the horses had arrived, Link climbed up on Epona rather clumsily and Midna and I got on Cael. I tried to take command of my horse, but my body was still uncooperative so Midna had to take over. Before we left I said,

"Here, Link. Take my cloak. You have more precious cargo."

Reluctantly he took it from me and fastened it about his neck. Then we slowly made our way back to the castle. It took us a long time as we were only making our horses walk rather than going at a full run. About halfway there Midna said something interesting.

"Huh, where are all the little goblin things that you usually see running around? Hmm, must be nocturnal."

Out attention turned back to our journey towards the castle, and by three that morning we finally made it back. Zelda hadn't done much sleeping over the last few days and she was outside on her balcony. When she saw us coming towards the castle, she roused the stable and informed them that we had made it back. Once inside the gates, Zelda wrapped her arms around Link's neck and said,

"I was so scared for you. You are not going to leave again until you have that baby, do you understand me? Oh, Link…thank the Goddesses you are safe."

"Uh, Zelda, I'm happy to see you too, but you're choking me."

"Oh, sorry; I'm just glad to have you back in my arms."

"I know; I feel the same."

Zelda kissed Link with all the passion and love that she felt for him. It was truly like watching a love scene from one of those sappy chick-flicks. Oh well, I would probably be doing the same thing once I saw my beloved again. In the meantime, Midna helped me down from Cael and helped me back to my room. Once there, I realized that I was starving. I called the porter and asked if I could have something from the kitchen, and he ran right away to do as I asked. But before he left he said,

"We were all worried about you, Miss Christina. We are glad to see that you are okay."

"Thanks, man. It's good to be back."

After he left, I saw my sword and shield propped up against the wall just waiting for me. I went over to them and tried to pick them up, but I couldn't yet. They felt like lead in my hands and I dropped them both.

"I see that we are going to have to work on getting your strength back."

I whipped around and fell down. The voice belonged to Link, and he came over to me and asked,

"Are you all right?"

I pulled myself up against the wall and replied,

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm still weak though."

Just then the porter came into the room with a huge table of food. I said,

"Geez man, I didn't know that you were going to bring me all the food in the castle."

"I thought you'd be hungry."

"You thought right. Thanks a bunch."

I smiled at him and the porter left leaving me alone with Link. I said to him,

"I don't think I can eat all this. Care to join me?"

"Don't mind if I do."

We both dug into the table like it was our last meal, and after we were finished I immediately felt some strength return to my limbs.

"Ahh, I feel better."

"I'm glad, now I have to say something to you."

"What?"

"Don't you EVER do that again! We got lucky and were able to find you, but I almost lost you and Aiden because of what you did, and we would have been doomed."

"You're right, I'm sorry. At least we know what Gannondorf is masquerading as."

"It doesn't matter. I can't lose you. If I did, then Aiden would be left without a mom and Hyrule would be short a hero."

"What 'Hero?' I haven't done a single heroic act since I've gotten here. I'm supposed to be Divinely Blessed and I don't understand what I'm supposed to do other than help you give birth."

"Look, giving yourself up to Gannon was a dumb thing to do, but it was also brave. It takes a hero to know a hero, and believe me: you've got all the makings of a great one. However, don't do anything like that again, or I'll be forced to take alternative actions to keep you safe."

"Oh geez Link, no need to get all parental on me."

"I can't help it, I'm going to be a parent soon. Speaking of which, Aiden really missed you."

"He did?"

"Yes. While you were gone, I barely felt him at all, and then as soon as we got you back he started kicking up a storm. In fact, here."

He took my hand and placed it on his stomach. I felt him moving and I laid my head against Link's belly.

"I can hear him in there. He's strong."

"Just like his mother."

"And his father."

We smiled at each other, and I continued to listen and feel my son inside him, and Link placed his hand on my head and as I felt his gentle touch I began to get drowsy. Link quickly roused me and put me to bed. He spread my cloak over me and kissed my forehead. I fell asleep immediately and Link returned to his room. When he got there he felt Aiden kick him again. He rubbed his belly and said,

"I know you missed your mother. She's back, and she's not going anywhere. She'll be right here when you're born, I promise."

He was rewarded with another kick. He smiled and retired to his own bed.


	14. Chapter 14

As it had turned out, Zelda had been right about finding extra room in the castle grounds. Over the next eight weeks as I recovered, the rest of the villagers arrived from Kakariko Village, then the Gorons came, then the rest of the people from Ordon, and the last to come were the Zoras. All of them wanted to know why they were experiencing crippling, paralyzing nightmares, who it was that was starting awful rumors about their neighbors and loved ones, and they also came with the promise of finding relief from it all. People asked all the time,

"What is going on in Hyrule, and where is Link? He's supposed to be out saving us and no one has seen him in weeks.

The only information that Zelda gave to everyone was,

"We are working on a solution to the problem; just give us a little more time. In the meantime, everyone is more than welcome to stay until we have this figured out."

The practice field went from a field of green grass to a campground of white tents, and Castle Town became more crowded than ever. Many an inhabitant had to give way to a giant shambling Goron that was passing through the narrow street, and many an unsuspecting lady was frightened by a Zora who had taken just that moment to take a dip in the fountain while she was getting water. But the person who was the most affected by the whole thing was Link. His mood got worse and worse as the weeks wore on. Nearly everyday a servant would ask him,

"So, how's our boy coming? Going to be soon right?"

At one point, he blew up at Princess Zelda when she admonished him about not eating the right kind of food. She had told him,

"Link, you shouldn't be eating fish with Chu jelly. It's not good for the baby."

He got mad and said quite vehemently,

"Well excuuuuuuuse me, Princess! God, would everyone leave me alone?"

It was nearly more than he could bear, and it was even worse with all the new inhabitants of the castle. All of them had prying eyes and pointing fingers that were usually looking and pointing right at his stomach. We could all tell he was tired of feeling like he was in a bubble and he wanted a little space. However, I got stupid and offered my help when I saw him carrying a sword that looked bulky and I asked him,

"Link, can I carry that sword for you? It looks heavy."

At nine months pregnant, his poor hormones were raging, and unfortunately with raging hormones sometimes come pure rage. He turned around looking truly pissed off and said in a dangerously quiet voice,

"I don't want help; I just want to be left alone; by everyone. Just let me do this and go away."

I should have stopped there, but I didn't. I continued,

"Link, you could…"

That was all I got out before he erupted,

"I don't care what I could do at this point! Just leave me alone, and GO AWAY!"

He turned around and walked away from me brandished that sword like the weapon it was. I thought to myself,

"_Whoa, okay…never try take something away from Link when he's hormonal._"

I let him go and left him alone for a while. A few hours later I found Zelda and Midna in the study and I asked them,

"Is there something that we can do about Link's hormones? He's angry all the time and nothing that anyone does seems to help."

Zelda replied,

"I think the best thing to do for him right now is to just let him be. He's going through a rough time right now, and I'm sure he feels stressed."

"All right Zelda. I'll leave him alone. I just get so worried."

Midna chimed in,

"We're all worried about him, but if you wanted to talk to him later I'm sure that he'll be much more open to you after he's had a chance to calm down a bit."

"All right, I'll talk to him a little later, and hopefully I won't get my head bitten off again."

Zelda replied,

"I think that we have all felt just how sharp Link's tongue can be. Just the other day he called me and Midna something that I refuse to repeat, but it is something that he has never done before. Oh well, it'll be over soon."

"Yeah, not soon enough."

"I heard that, Christina."

I whipped around and Link was standing right there in the doorway. Oops.

"I'm sorry that I can't be the perfect hero for any of you right now, but in case you haven't noticed I'm in a little bit of a predicament here!"

I replied,

"Link, I know that you are uncomfortable, but…."

He cut me off,

"Uncomfortable? You don't know the meaning of the word! My back is killing me, I can't shoot my bow properly because my belly is too big, and everywhere I go people point and stare at me. Uncomfortable….more like a living nightmare."

"I'm sorry! How many more times do I have to say it?"

He turned around in a huff and waddled out the door. Great, now he was even angrier than before. I shouted,

"Link, wait!"

And I turned around to chase him. I had to say 'Excuse me,' several times because a lot of the overflow had flowed into the castle. I finally caught up with him and I said,

"Can I speak to you in private?"

"Sure, whatever."

We went to his room and I closed the door. I whipped around and I said,

"All right, look Link: I know that you hurt, I know that you feel like your body has betrayed you, and I understand that your hormones are going crazy right now. However, talking to us like that is completely inappropriate. We are just trying to help you."

"Help me? You are the one who put me in this mess in the first place! Didn't I say that I didn't want my body to be used as a science experiment? Now look at me! I don't even feel like I'm IN my own body anymore, and you are worried about whether or not I'm being polite!"

I was taken aback by that statement, and I was mad. I looked him straight in the eyes and said,

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly in the most comfortable place right now either, and at least you got to come back home! I'm stuck here until something that I'm supposed to do happens and I still have no idea what it is. I'm not the one who caused this, so don't take it out on me!"

He crossed his arms on his chest, which only accentuated how big he had gotten, and said,

"Christina, just go away and leave me alone right now. I don't want to be around anyone so just go."

I gave him a furious look and I said,

"I'm going, but if you go into labor because of your little rant there, don't come crying to me."

He got even madder and pointed at the door and screamed at the top of his lungs,

"GET OUT!"

As soon as I did I joined the Princesses back in the study and I said sarcastically,

"Well, that went well."

Zelda asked,

"What happened?"

"About what I expected to happen; he's so hormonal right now that he's not even thinking rationally. He tried to blame me for his situation, and I probably made it worse just now."

I sighed, plopped into my chair, crossed my arms on my chest, and sunk my head into my shoulders taking on the appearance of a sulking child. Midna looked at me and said,

"What did you say?"

I told them what I had said to him, and they looked at me in shock and surprise. Zelda asked,

"Why in all of Hyrule would you say something like that to him? I know that he's a little on edge right now, but…"

"A little? Have you talked to him lately? He's gone nuts! I'm so mad at him right now that I just…ARGH!"

I threw my hands up and walked out of the study in a huff. I went to the practice field with my bow and quiver hoping that shooting a few arrows would help calm me down. After two arrows I had missed the target and I was even angrier. After taking aim a few more times, I missed every time and I threw my bow down in pure frustration. I walked over to the target and I kicked it so hard that I put my foot through it. I am usually a pretty patient person, and it takes a lot to get me to that point, but Link had finally pushed my last button. I kicked the target a few more times, and sat down beside it with tears of rage shining in my eyes. One of the children from Ordon saw me, I think his name was Talo, and walked over to me. When he reached me he asked,

"Why are you crying?"

I looked up at him and I said,

"Because someone made me mad."

"Who?"

"Someone who I care a lot about because he has something that I also care a lot about."

"Is he angry too?"

"Probably."

"You should go make up. When my mommy and daddy have a fight, my daddy always makes it up to mommy by giving her a bunch of flowers."

"I'm not sure if he wants to make up with me. I said something to him that was pretty mean."

"Did you mean it?"

"No I didn't. I just said it because I was mad."

"Then you shouldn't be upset anymore. I'll go with you if it will help."

I couldn't help but giggle a little. I said,

"No, but thanks; you helped me feel a little better."

"No problem. Just remember to bring a bunch of flowers and then everything will be okay."

I smiled at the little boy and he ran off to where his parents were. I looked around the camp and I saw relief and a kind of peace on the people's faces. However I could also feel a twinge of fear in the air. They had come here because this had been the last place of refuge that they could go to, and, unbeknownst to them, all of their hopes were riding on the tiny unborn life growing within Link. I did need to make up with him because like it or not he needed me. I was one of the only two people who knew what to do whenever his time would come. I got off the ground and walked towards the castle. When I got inside, I noticed that I was alone in the foyer and something wasn't right in the air. I drew my sword and looked around the giant room looking for some unseen enemy. Then the Thing appeared in front of me. I brandished my weapon against it and I said,

"What do you want now, Gannon? Haven't you had enough?"

"I'll never have enough until you and your precious 'Hero' are both lying dead at my feet."

"Then why didn't you kill me when you had me in your clutches? I was completely vulnerable."

"Oh, my weak disciple; how little you understand."

"Then why don't you start explaining? I'm tired of the mysteries!"

"I can tell you nothing except that I can't kill you yet. Even so, I will continue to terrorize and haunt you until I can. I was hoping that I could weaken you so that whenever the time did come to kill you, I could just do away with you. However, it would appear that my job has been made that much more difficult."

"Then why not just take me hostage again? You could do it, you know."

"Not while you wear that cloak. I can't touch you, you know that. Stupid girl."

"Begone from me then, and leave me alone. I have no other business with you."

"No, but I have unfinished business with you. You'll see. Oh, yes; you will see all too well when the time comes and when I have realized my full power. And by the way, that time is nearly upon us. You have only a few days left to make your decision: choose me or death."

"I choose Link, Zelda and Midna."

"Then you have chosen death. Poor choice, 'Heroine.'"

"Choosing you means death anyway. I refuse to break my Bond of Trust."

"Until our final battle, then. I still look forward to seeing you kneel before me."

"Get out of here!"

The Shadow-Shape dissipated into the air again, and I made my way to Link's room. I took a deep breath and knocked on his door. The voice inside said,

"Who is it, and what do you want?"

"It's me, and I want to apologize."

The door opened and Link stood there with his arms crossed. I took another deep breath and said,

"Link, I'm sorry that I haven't been more sensitive to your situation and how you must be feeling right now. I haven't been through what you are going through and I had no right to say what I said to you earlier. Please forgive me."

"You really hurt my feelings."

"I know, and the last thing I wanted to do was hurt you, but please realize that I said what I said out of anger and I didn't really mean it."

"Why were you even angry at me? What did I do to deserve that comment?"

"Well, you kind of accused me of putting you in your current situation. I didn't ask for it either, and it's not my fault."

He sighed and put his arms down.

"I know it's not your fault, and I'll forgive you if you forgive me."

"Deal."

Link hugged me and I turned to go, but then I remembered a question that I had been meaning to ask him for the past two months.

"Hey, Link?"

"Yeah?"

"I've been meaning to ask you something. Just before the Shadow-Shape took me hostage you kissed me. Why did you do that?"

"I guess because I wanted to remind you of your Bond, and also to offer encouragement that I would find you. I needed you to stay alive, and I didn't want you giving up on me. That's why I kissed you."

"I see. So, I have one more question."

"Okay?"

"When are you and Zelda going to get married already? It's obvious that you two are head-over-heels for each other."

"When this is all over, and we have defeated Gannondorf, then I will ask her. You're right; she is precious to me. In fact she's the most valuable thing in the world to me besides Aiden and you."

"I'm looking forward to the wedding; in fact a lot of people are. Do you remember Kyle?"

He got a dark look on his face at Kyle's name.

"You mean that boy back in your world who sullied the name of my Princess? All too well."

"I thought you were going to kill him that day."

"If you hadn't walked in when you did, I may have."

"Well, he's been asking for years when you and Zelda were going to tie the knot."

"Ah. Just to let you know, if I ever see him again I may have to fight him for Zelda's honor."

"I'll keep that in mind. In the meantime, can I help you with your back? You mentioned that you had some pain."

"How can you help me?"

"I'll rub it for you."

"Oh, would you? That would be great."

I went inside Link's room and I gave him a backrub. He made puppy-dog noises the whole time and then he fell asleep. I left him alone and retired to my own room. I was sleeping peacefully until about three in the morning when I felt myself being gently shaken. In my fuzzy brain, I thought I was back at home and someone was trying to wake me up. I slapped the hand away saying sleepily,

"No, I don't want to right now."

"Christina, please wake up."

"Just five more minutes."

"No, now. I need…oh God, help me."

I heard groaning coming from the side of my bed. I looked over and I saw Link bent over double and clutching his belly with both hands, his face contorted in pain. I woke up immediately and asked,

"Link, what's wrong!"

"I…I think it's time."

I went into action, and hopped out of bed; then I started giving commands.

"Link, get up here and lie down. I need to take a look at you."

He had to wait until the cramps had passed before he managed to find the strength to get on the bed. I had him lie down on his back and I waited for another pain to hit him. As soon as it did, I felt the muscles to see if they were contracting. His stomach got tight as a drum when the next one hit, and I knew it was indeed time to meet my son. After it had passed I said,

"Hang on, Link. I have to go get Zelda."

"No, please. Don't leave me."

"I'm not going anywhere, I promise, but I have to go get Zelda. I need her help, I'll be right back."

Reluctantly he nodded and I was off like a shot. I made a beeline for Zelda's chambers, and I found her sound asleep. I hated to do it, but I woke her and said,

"I think Link is in labor. He needs us right now."

At those words, she was up and ready in a second. I led her to my room where Link was still lying on my bed in the throes of another contraction. I said to him,

"It's okay; you're going to be fine. Zelda, get over there and help your man."

She climbed up on the bed, went to his head and gently cradled him in her lap helping him breathe through the pain. Suddenly, the knowledge of what we needed to do hit us with a vengeance. We had nearly forgotten, and it all came back to us like a tidal wave. Immediately we went into action sterilizing everything, and making sure that we had enough clean cloths for the mess we were about to make. It took us half an hour. Even as quickly as we were going, it still took us half an hour. However, Link was a good patient and Aiden was a strong kid. I did everything that I had explained, and luckily we were able to find a painkiller strong enough to make sure that Link wouldn't feel anything but it wouldn't harm Aiden either. Soon the sound of a high piercing wail resounded throughout my room, but that wail sounded like the chorus of angels to the three of us. I gave the baby to Zelda and sewed Link back up. Only after everything had been cleaned up and Aiden had been wrapped up in warm blankets did we feel that we were finally able to relax a little bit. We were all tired and worn out, but happy to finally have our son with us. I looked at my firstborn as I held him and said,

"You're name is Aiden Link. You are my son and you are the most beatiful thing in the world."

He just cooed at me. Then Link sat up and said,

"Let me hold him."

I gave the tiny bundle over to his father, and I swear I could not have seen a more beautiful sight. As Link held the tiny boy, he said,

"He's got your eyes, Christina. Were you born with dark brown eyes?"

"I was."

"Then they'll stay brown like that."

I looked at Aiden and I said,

"He may have my eyes, but he's got your ears. Look at those things; they're gonna be big."

"You got a problem with my ears?"

"Nah, I've gotten used to them."

"I think he takes after his mother."

Then Zelda asked,

"Do you two want some time alone with your son?"

We looked at her; not wanting her to go, and wanting her to go at the same time. Zelda took the latter of the two and left us alone, but not before she said,

"I'll be back in a little while to check on you, Link. You've had a busy night, so be sure to get some rest, okay."

"I will, and Zelda?"

"Yes?"

"Come here a second."

She leaned into him, and he kissed her as sweetly as I had ever seen him. Then he said to her,

"I love you, my Princess."

"I love you too, my green-clad prince."

Then she left us alone and allowed us to admire our new son. After a few minutes, Link began to nod off, and I took Aiden away and held him. I studied my son's face as he slept in my arms. Link was right. He did have my dark brown eyes, but he had his father's ears and I thought I saw fine little strands of dark blond hair that also belonged to his father. I cried. Not tears of stress, anger, or sorrow; but tears of joy. This was my little boy, and I was finally able to hold him in my arms. I looked over at Link who was dozing and I said,

"You did a good job, my friend."

He woke up just enough to say,

"I couldn't have done it without you,"

Then he fell back to sleep. I knew that it wouldn't be long before Aiden was taken from us, but for these few moments I was a mom, Link was a dad, Zelda and Midna were, well I'll call them step-moms, and we all were, finally, a family.

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Hope it wasn't too sappy. Anyway, please review. Thanks


	15. Chapter 15

Over the next week Aiden became a favorite amongst the servants and us. For that week he was held, played with, and received all the care and love that he deserved. However, our joy was soon cut short. At the end of the week, Zelda, Midna and I were in Link's room admiring and cooing over little Aiden. Then the Goddess appeared. As soon as she did, we knew that it was time for Aiden to leave us. The Goddess looked over our small group and she said,

"Truly this child could not have been born to a more loving and devoted family. When he is returned to you, rest assured that he will know whom every single one of you are and he will run to you with open arms; especially to his mother and father. In the meantime before I go I have a gift for the Hero of Light."

She turned to Link who was still recovering from the birth and she said,

"Hero of the Light, you have gone above and beyond anything that was ever expected or required of you, and you will need to be in as good a shape as possible during the final battle, so I give your body back to you the way it was before you were brought into the other world."

She touched him, and his became as tone, firm and finely muscled as he had been before the baby. Then she said,

"It is time now. May I please see the child of Light and Shadow?"

Link got out of bed and clutched the infant protectively against his chest. He walked over to the Goddess and said to her,

"This is not something that I do easily, Excellency. This is difficult for me."

"I know it is. Rest assured that he will be returned to you exactly a month from now."

"He'll be much changed. I…"

Link almost broke down, but the Goddess placed her hand on his shoulders and said,

"Have courage, Hero. All will be well."

He placed Aiden in her arms, and the Goddess said to the baby,

"You will not be gone from those you love for long, little one."

And she disappeared. Just like that she was gone, and so was my son. The first to speak was Zelda and it brought us all from our thoughts. She said,

"Right then; I have work to do, and I think that you two need to brush up on your fighting skills. Don't you think?"

Link said,

"Um, yeah. Christina come with me, please. We've got to…um…go practice. Grab your sword."

"Okay."

We went down to the practice field, and watching Link walk was so strange. I had become accustomed to seeing him with one hand on his back and waddling like a duck. Now he was standing up arrow straight and had no traces about him that he had ever been pregnant to begin with. Once we got down to an area where we had some room, he pulled out his practice sword and brandished it against me. I pulled my sword and we fought, but there was no heart in it. We just went through the motions. We were both feeling a great loss. Aiden was gone; he had been there and he was gone. We knew that he would come back, but it was like he had died. Finally, Link put up his hand and said,

"Stop; that's enough for today. I have to go tend to Epona, so I'll see you later."

"All right. Link?"

"Hmm?"

"It's going to be okay, you know."

He just mumbled something and walked away. I went to the archery range, and tried to shoot a few arrows, but my heart just wasn't in it. I missed the target nearly every time, and after the fifteenth time of trying I sat down on the ground, put my face in my knees and sobbed. For a while I couldn't move from that spot. I felt like someone had taken a knife a stabbed it right into my heart, twisted it, and pulled it out. If I was feeling it this bad, I could only imagine how Link was taking it. The poor guy had carried him for nine months. Nine! Almost a year, and now he wasn't there anymore. He had to be feeling worse than I did, but he wanted to be alone right now, and I had to let him. Then I tried to encourage myself by telling myself that he would be back. Even though he'd be grown up he would be back. It brought me a little comfort and I tried aiming at the target again. This time I hit it and I felt satisfied. I walked away from the target range and went to the stables to check on Cael. Being with my horse brought me more comfort and allowed me to get my mind off of Aiden for a while. I left the stables and went to the library to see if I could figure out the geography of Hyrule and where we might be able to find Gannondorf. At the thought of his name, I felt a fire growing in my belly. A rage like no other I had ever felt before. Because of Gannondorf, my little boy was taken from me, and I would not be able to watch him grow. Because of him, Link and Princess Zelda were in pain. Because of him, Princess Zelda and Princess Midna had been taken hostage and I had given myself over as his captive and Link had nearly died. Because of him, we were all in trouble, and the only one who could save us was a small child who only had a month to grow up.

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Sorry that this is a short one. I'll add more to it soon. Please review, I don't get many. Thanks!


	16. Chapter 16

Over the next several days, we all had very evident feelings of sadness and discontent on our faces, but the one who had the most expression of sorrow was Link. The poor guy moped around for hours not saying anything to anyone; not even to Zelda. We trained like we needed to, but all we did was go through the basics. It made the flame of fury and rage grow even more within me. Finally, one day I lost my temper. It was about two weeks into the month that we were waiting and I was training out in the practicing field, which could hardly be called such, any more. It was overflowing with the citizens of Hyrule and it made training very difficult. I looked at the people surrounding us, and I felt all their eyes upon me. I didn't feel like the kind eyes of the people were watching, but rather the malicious orbs of Gannondorf were on my every move; sizing me up, and waiting for me to make a fatal mistake. I surprised Link and the entire crowd. I stopped dueling and turned to the crowd and shouted,

"Gannondorf, I can feel your eyes on me! Come out and face me right now! I'M NOT AFRAID OF YOU!"

I almost leapt into the audience with my sword drawn, and I was going to do serious damage to innocent people when Link stopped me by grabbing my arm and flipping me down to the ground. He sat on top of me and held me down. He shouted to the crowd to go away, but of course they did not so he just continued to hold me down and tried to calm me. He said,

"Christina, get ahold of yourself! Gannondorf is not here! It's only me! Calm down!"

"You don't understand, Link! He's in that crowd somewhere; I can feel it in my stomach! He's there; let me go!"

"NO! Not until you calm down and have your mind again!

Then he spoke to the crowd,

"Will someone go get Zelda?"

I continued to try to fight Link off of me, but he proved to be the victor and I conceded to his strength. I looked into his sapphire eyes and I broke down right there on the field. I felt so empty inside, and I could only think of two things: getting my boy back and defeating Gannondorf. It had consumed my waking thoughts and was making me go crazy. Link just held me and finally Zelda arrived on the field. She told the crowd to disperse and they listened to her. Soon we made our way back to the castle and we all went to my chambers. Once we got there Zelda said,

"This is too much. We cannot continue like this. Christina, what in the world made you think that Gannondorf was in that crowd?

"I don't know, Zelda. I just got so mad for no reason and I almost took it out on the people of your Kingdom. I'm so sorry, can you forgive me?"

"I can, but why did you do it at all?"

"I feel like Gannondorf's eyes are constantly on me. Even when I'm wearing my cloak, he's watching. When I'm sleeping and awake, I feel he's there somehow just outside my dreams and just out of the plane of my vision. He wants me dead, Zelda. He wants me dead and I can do nothing to stop this waking nightmare."

I nearly broke down again, but I didn't. I sat there shaking and wishing that my outburst on the field had never occurred. Link and Zelda sat on either side of me in deep thought, and then Zelda said,

"I will explain to the people that you are just overworked, and you need some rest. I want you both to take the rest of the day off and just relax. No training, no drills, no nothing. This experience has been more than difficult for the both of you, and I do not wish to have another outburst like that on my grounds. Do you understand me?"

We both nodded in affirmation and Zelda left on my behalf to go appease the masses. After she had gone, I put my face in my hands and sincerely apologized to Link for acting out like I did. He replied,

"I'm surprised that you didn't have some kind of breakdown sooner. I haven't been dealing with this well myself, and you snapped before I did. I guess we both need a break from all of this."

"I know. I keep trying to reassure myself that Aiden will be home soon and I'll be able to hold him again, but it's not working very well. I miss him so much, Link. I can only imagine how you must be feeling though."

"You want to know how I'm feeling?"

"Yes."

"I feel empty. I became so accustomed to having this large ball sticking out of me, and now it's like it never happened. I can walk straight again, my muscles aren't sore anymore, and I don't have anything inside me anymore. He was with me for so long, and now he's just gone. I've also been trying to reassure myself that he'll be back, but he'll be all grown up. It's hard for me to picture."

Link's head dropped to his chest and I pulled him close to me. He put his head on my shoulder and we stayed like that for a while, just being with each other. No swords, no arrows, no fighting; just two parents missing their only son. Finally Link got up and said,

"I need to go and see if I have everything I need for the battle with Gannon. If you need me, I'll be in my room."

I nodded at him and I flopped on my bed in utter despair. I began to doze off when the Shadow-Shape appeared in front of me. I looked at it and said,

"Go away, Gannondorf. I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now."

"Some Heroine you are: you mourn your son like he is dead even though you know that you will see him again in a few weeks. You're pathetic, and whether you want to deal with me or not, I'm here and you will hear me Christina."

"What do you want? You've already had me as a hostage, and you tortured me. Isn't that enough for you?"

"What do you think, my weak disciple?"

"I think you want me dead."

"Well, well, well; aren't we the perceptive one. Yes, I want you dead, but perhaps we can come up with a deal."

My curiosity was piqued.

"What kind of deal?"

"You give your son to me at the final battle, and I let you both live. You leave Hyrule forever, and I keep him alive for the rest of his natural life. We both get what we want."

I shook my head in disbelief and said,

"You're afraid of something, Gannondorf. What is it?"

It attacked me, threw me up against the wall, held me there with its massive black shadowy hands. It shouted,

"I FEAR NOTHING! YOU ARE THE ONE WHO SHOULD FEAR ME!"

Then he let me fall down to the ground, and I landed with an audible thud. The Shadow-Shape towered over me and said,

"You and your entire family will die at my hands, and I will be certain to kill you personally. Oh yes, my weak disciple; you will not live past the next month. This I swear."

I got up off the floor and said,

"Fine Gannondorf, but I have a deal for you."

It looked at me like I had lost my mind, but I continued,

"When the time comes, I want YOU to fight. Not this Shadow that you keep sending to me. No, I want to see YOUR face, YOUR countenance when my son deals the final blow that will end your life. If you do that and win, which you won't, I will leave Hyrule forever. Do we have a deal?"

He just stared at me with anger, malice, and rage. But then his face softened and he gave me a smile with no trace of any warmth and he said,

"I don't make deals with those who are beneath me, you scum. However, I can assure you that it will be me who takes the life of your son, his father, and you in front of all the people in Hyrule. That I will promise."

He dissipated like smoke leaving no trace of ever having been there, and leaving me to my own thoughts of what I had just experienced. He was afraid of something, but what? He either wanted or needed me dead for some unknown reason and because he had failed to do it so far, he was afraid. What did my death mean for him? It was too confusing. I wrapped my cloak around me tightly, and tried to find sleep again, but none would come. My mind was racing and I needed to do something to calm down, so I decided to go for a walk. I walked out of the castle and into the town, and somehow managed to find my way back to the bar over on the South Road and I walked in. Telma the bartender met me again warmly, and she once again gave me a mug of that alcoholic beverage that I couldn't handle more than a sip of at a time. She noticed that I was feeling down, and asked me,

"What does the Heroine of Hyrule have to feel so poorly about? Hon, talk to me. Tell me what's wrong."

I told her about my outburst on the field and she said,

"Well all heroes are bound to feel the pressures of life more acutely than others, and you are no different. If anyone ever told you that being a hero was easy, someone lied to you. Heavens, Link has had more life to deal with that is necessary for any normal person to handle. Why I remember when the lad escorted us across the Hyrule fields just to save a little Zora boy from death. He didn't know the boy, but he selflessly gave his service to him anyway. Nobody asked him to, just like nobody asked you if you wanted to give yourself over to the enemy to save the life of Princess Zelda.

I looked up at her in awe, and she caught the expression.

"Yes, we know. That tale has quickly got round these parts, what with the wagging tongues around here. So you see, hon, you may still have some part to play here yet, but don't let the pressure get to you like that again. Talk it out with someone before you go and pop your cork. Anyway, I have to get back to my customers, but think about what I said.

I nodded and she got up and began tending to her other patrons. I guess I was more famous in this town than I knew. I wondered just how famous I was, but I couldn't think anymore. I was feeling tired and hardly able to function. I got up from the table, paid for the drink and began making my way back to the castle. Once I made it into the foyer I found Princess Zelda waiting for me. She said,

"I thought you'd never get back. Are you all right?"

"I'm okay. I just need to process my thoughts before I get into this huge battle. I'm sorry for blowing up like that today, Zelda."

She put up her hand and said,

"Think nothing of it. The pressures of being here and having to learn the things that you have in such a short period of time would be enough to send anyone into a crazy rage. No one here blames you for it; we just want to make sure that you are all right."

"Thank you. I need to tell you something, though."

"What is it?"

"What I said before about Gannon watching me?"

"Yes?"

"I think that he's watching all of us, and me in particular. I saw him again a little while ago, and I think that he's afraid of something."

"Really? Interesting. What do you think that he could possibly be afraid of?"

"I don't know, but I know for certain that he wants me dead. He confirmed that today. Why he wants me dead in particular is a mystery. I would have thought that he would have been trying to think of ways to get at my son rather than me. After all, it's Aiden that will be his undoing, not me. You said so yourself."

"Truly this is a conundrum. However, all we can do is trust that the Goddesses know what they are doing and that all will be made clear in the end."

I walked with her a ways until we found ourselves in the observatory. I looked into the sky above me, and I noticed that the sky was darker than I had ever seen it. It was a clear night, but there were no stars. I turned to Zelda and before I could ask anything she said,

"I too have noticed the lack of stars. Evil is growing, and it is blotting out every pinpoint of light that it can. The Final Battle is quickly approaching and everyone is feeling a sense of urgency."

I looked back up at the stars for a little while and then asked,

"Do you think that we will win?"

"I think that whatever the outcome, Hyrule will be in good hands. Win or lose, the Goddesses have not gone through all this trouble just to abandon us in our darkest hour."

I looked from the sky to her face,

"Was I brought here only to die for Hyrule? Is that my fate?"

She looked back at me with a look of understanding on her face and said,

"You were brought here to become the mother of the one who would save the world. If you have another purpose here I cannot tell you what that might be. However, I think that you have some other purpose to serve here now that your son is born."

I looked down at the ground feeling scared and confused. Zelda didn't know what my other purpose here was, and if she did know she was not going to tell me. I could get no more information out of her tonight so I went to my chambers and went to bed. I slept a dreamless sleep, thanks to my cloak, but even so I could feel Gannondorf's evil nature just outside of my dreams. I think that everyone who slept in the Hyrule castle grounds that night felt just the same as I did, but no one wanted to think on it. The next morning I awoke to the sound of Link calling my name.

"Christina, wake up. It's time to go and run some drills."

I looked at him and said,

All right, all right. Can you give me a minute?"

"Fine, but be quick."

I threw on a pair of normal Hylian clothes; I had already decided that I would not wear my tunic again until the day I saw my son again, and I went down to the field. It was amazing! Much of the field had been cleared and the tents had been taken down. The field was nearly green again except for a ring of white around the outer corner of the field. When I saw it I asked.

"What's all this? What happened to the tents?"

Link replied

"I think that you are ready for your final test; the one that will prove to me and to the rest of Hyrule that you can face any adversary. The tents have been taken down for the morning for the sole purpose of this trial. When it is over they will be put back up. If you pass this test, you will be rewarded and if you fail I will take another week to train you and we will try again. Once again I will fight you as if you are my enemy. I will not kill you, but it will seem that way. I want you to fight me as though I was Gannondorf, but do not kill me. Are you ready?"

"I'm ready. I want to get this over with and prove that I am a hero."

"Then let us begin. This is what your test will consist of: you will get a running start on Cael, pull out your bow and arrow, hit a target with the arrow, put away your bow, pull out your sword, knock the head off the dummy down there, and then you will dismount and fight me. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

"Then let us begin."

Inwardly I was cringing. I had trouble with fighting from horseback before, and now it was final exam time again. Nonetheless, I climbed up on my horse and got him down to the end of the field. I got him at a gallop and pulled out my bow and an arrow from my quiver. I let go of the reins and quickly nocked the arrow to the string, set the bow and released the arrow. I heard a satisfying 'thunk' as the arrow hit the mark. I couldn't get cocky though; there were still things to do. I put the bow away took the reins back up and pulled my sword from the scabbard on my back. I swung the blade as I approached the dummy, and I felt the gratifying sensation of steel on wood and heard the 'clunk' as I cut off the makeshift head. Then the most difficult part: I saw Link standing in front of me, and he had his sword drawn. It was the Master Sword! This was going to be tricky. I barreled at him at nearly full speed forcing him out of the way, and then I pulled Cael up and jumped onto the ground a few yards from where Link had rolled to. I drew my sword and began a sprint towards him, but he was ready for me. As soon as I brought my blade down, he expertly parried me, and a flash of sparks came from the blades. He grinned at me and said,

"If you want to beat Gannon, you're going to have to do better than that."

He was taunting me, and it fueled my anger. Then I remembered the lesson that anger only clouds the senses and the battle fought in anger was usually the one lost. I calmed down and tried to think of ways to outsmart him. We circled each other like wolves, and then I went in for another attack which he parried and then he did a move I had never seen before. He dropped to his knees and swept the blade under my feet. Fortunately I saw the flash of the blade and managed to jump into the air before his steel tasted my blood, and he rolled out of the way before I could land on my feet. I went in for another attack and he quickly parried my blow again! All I could think was,

"Dang, he's fast!"

But I couldn't let it intimidate me. Then I got an idea. I pulled a piece of horse-grass out of my pouch which I had saved for some reason, and blew it while backing away from Link. He saw what I was planning to do and tried to prevent it, but Cael came up behind me and I managed to get on his back just like Link had shown me, and I galloped away from him. Link was just as clever though. A second later, I heard the haunting melody of the horse whistle and then the thunder of heavy hooves behind me. I looked back and saw Epona coming towards me and Link on her back with fire in his blue eyes. I whipped Cael around and I began running him towards Epona. Mine and Link's blades were drawn and glittering in the sun; it was going to be close, but just before he came beside me, I pulled up my horse abruptly, leaned over his neck, and as she passed me I gave Epona a sharp swat to the rear with the flat of my blade. She reared and whinnied in surprise, Link fell off, and Epona took off. As he tried to get his bearings I dismounted my horse, and I held my blade to Link's throat. He looked at me with his dirt-streaked face, and I saw pride and exhaustion in his face. He said to me,

"You win and you pass your test. I am proud to call you my student, and my equal."

* * *

Here's where it get's interesting. Why is Gannondorf afraid of Christina? The answer will come in the next few chapters but for now here's a cliffy

Zelda looked over at the Shadow-Shape with pure fire in her eyes as the crowd ran in fear from the entity that had emerged in the throne room. Please review!


	17. Chapter 17

I held up my blade in victory as Cael reared high up on his hind legs. The crowd cheered my name and applauded me. It seemed to go on forever. I felt as though my wildest dream of heroism had finally come true. The only thing that would have made this even more satisfying was if Aiden had been here to witness it. Soon the crowd began to disperse, and Link and I took our horses to the stables. Once we got there and our horses were given fresh food and water, Link said,

"I have already been told that you will be rewarded on the day that our son returns to us. In the meantime, I would like to give you something."

"Okay, what do you want to give me?"

"Hold out your hands, and close your eyes."

I did as he asked, and I felt a weight on both my arms. I opened my eyes and looked down at them and I saw that Link had placed a leather pouch across my arms. I said,

"Thank you. I needed one of these."

"This is not just any pouch. This is a magic pouch that will allow you to carry heavy objects and not feel their weight."

"So this is just like yours?"

"It is."

"This is so cool! Thanks Link."

"Think nothing of it. Now, go rest up and then tomorrow I would like you to go and see Zelda in the observatory. She has asked to speak with you alone about some kind of special ceremony."

"A ceremony? What kind of ceremony?"

He gave me an 'I-know-something-you-don't know' grin and replied,

"Just go speak to Zelda, and she'll fill you in on the details."

"All right, but I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I know."

He was still infuriating even though he wasn't pregnant anymore; oh well. I guess I was just going to have to be content to wait until the next day. That night I could barely sleep because I felt like a kid at Christmas, and I had a million thoughts running through my head: what kind of ceremony was Zelda going to give? Would Aiden be proud of me? Would he even recognize me? Would he recognize any of us? Then I remembered that the Goddess had said that he would run to us with open arms and that he would remember whom we all were. It was only two more weeks away, and I was really looking forward to that day when I could hold him again. I did manage to finally fall asleep in the early morning hours, and I awoke that morning with more joy in my heart than I had felt in the past two weeks. I made my way to the observatory after I had gotten dressed and I found Zelda there looking as regal as ever. I said,

"I was informed that you wanted to speak with me."

"I do. There is something that you need to start preparing for. On the day that Aiden comes back to us, I want to present all three of you to the people of Hyrule as my Knights and personal Guard."

"All three of us, Zelda?"

"You, Link and Aiden. I am going to knight you all. It is an honor long overdue for Link, and one that should be given to both you and your son."

"Zelda, I…I don't know what to say."

"Just be aware you may be asked to wear some clothes that are slightly…uncomfortable."

"Please, don't put me in a dress."

"What's wrong with wearing a dress?"

"N…nothing, it's just…well; I kind of wanted to wear my tunic when I saw Aiden again. I really like it, and it just feels, I don't know, right."

Zelda just looked at me for a minute and then she beamed at me. She held my eyes within hers and said,

"Then I shall allow you to wear the clothing that you feel best in. Far be it from me to deny our Heroine her comfort. Just be aware that it is highly irregular for a female to wear anything other than her finest during something of this magnitude."

"I understand, but you gave me those clothes so I do consider them my finest."

"So be it, but make sure it is clean. I do not wish to see dirt streaked all over your clothes when you are knighted. It presents a poor image."

"I won't have dirt or smudges on anything."

"All right then, now here is what you need to do when it is time for the ceremony."

She told me all the particulars how the ceremony was going to take place, the way I was to present myself, how I was to walk, what I was to say and how to say it, and how I was to leave when all was said and done. After the ceremony, she said that her chefs would prepare a huge feast in our honor and that all of Hyrule was invited. The ceremony itself would take place in the throne room, and the feast would take place outside underneath several tents on the practicing field. After she was done I asked,

"I'm getting a little off topic here, but what if something happens that spoils everything?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. I just have a funny feeling that all won't go as planned."

"Don't worry about that. If something happens we will deal with it. Now, go and make sure that you are well prepared for this. No woman has ever been given this honor in my Kingdom before, and it will probably never happen again."

"Thank you so much, Zelda! I don't think that I could ask for a higher honor!"

"You can't."

I grinned from ear to ear, and then I did something that I would never do to royalty in my own country: I hugged her and she embraced me back. After a minute, I released her and I ran off to tell Link. I found him in his room, and he had a grin that spoke volumes as I walked in. He asked,

"I take it Zelda told you what she was planning?"

"You held out on me yesterday. You knew the whole time and didn't tell me?"

"She wanted to wait until you had passed your test before she told you. She told me just after Aiden was born when she was alone with me."

"You both held out on me. Oh well, I guess I'm just going to have to live with it. In the meantime I need your help with something."

"Okay, what?"

"Can you help me practice for this thing? I don't want to look like a fool in front of everyone."

"Sure; it's not that hard."

"He walked me through what I needed to do, and of course I found fighting to be much easier than trying to be proper. At least with a sword in my hand, I felt comfortable. This was totally alien. It was like trying to learn a whole new way of fighting: walking the right way, saying the right thing, knowing what phrases were insults and which were compliments…not that hard; yeah right! Nearly every day for the next two weeks I practiced. I took a few days off to go for a ride or do some target practice. I also took the time to really meet some of the people of Hyrule, and I saw a mixture of relief and discontent. They were starting to feel restless and they wanted answers to their questions. Everywhere I went I was asked if I knew if the problem had been solved yet, and all I could tell them was that answers to their questions were Princess Zelda's domain and that she hadn't really spoken to me about it. What could I say? That Link had been pregnant and had given birth to the one who would save their lives? They never would have believed me. In fact, I didn't even know what Zelda was going to say to them on the day that Aiden returned. All I was sure of was that the time was nearly upon us and Gannon's power had most likely been fully realized by now. Nonetheless, I met with them all and I learned a great deal about each culture. Those last two weeks passed more slowly than a slug crawling over a leaf, and then, finally, it came. The day came when I would see Aiden again and the three of us would receive our knighthood. I jumped out of bed that early that morning and I put on my midnight colored tunic and my cloak. I met Link, Zelda and Midna just outside my bedroom, and I saw my look of anxiety and nervousness mirrored in their faces. I hadn't seen Midna since the day that Aiden had been taken from us since Link and I had left the room to go and practice and, as usual, she was always a mysterious figure to behold. Link asked Zelda,

"Where are we supposed to go to meet him?"

"We need to go to the observatory. That is where we have had most of our encounters, and it is there that we will see your son."

The four of us hurried to the observatory, but Link and I took up the lead. Once we got there we found that the walls were shining more brightly that they had before and the Triforces on Link and Zelda glowed furiously. Then the Goddess appeared with another figure at her side; the figure of a young man. The Goddess said to him,

"Here is your family, young Aiden. They have missed you greatly in your absence, as I know you have missed them. Go to them now."

The young man stepped out of the light, and we beheld his countenance. He had a mixture of dark blond and coppery hair about the length of Link's, his face looked almost exactly like his father's, but it was a little rounder like mine, his eyes were a clear dark brown like mine, and I was right about his ears; they were the spitting image of Link's. His broad shoulders gave way to two muscular arms and he was clothed in a white tunic that ended at his knees. As we looked at him he met our stares and then he spoke,

"Mother? Father?"

That name was going to take some getting used to: 'mother.' Link and I stayed rooted to our places and we could do nothing except look at him so Zelda said something for us.

"Aiden, these are your parents: Christina and Link."

Her voice brought us out of our reverie and Link said to him,

"Um, hello. I'm you father, and this is Christina. She's your mother."

I simply said,

"Hi."

Oh geez, this was awkward. Aiden looked at us and then he surprised us both by running towards us and embracing us in the biggest hug I had ever received. He said,

"Mother Father, I've missed you so much! They told me that I would see you again, and here we are! I love you both so much!"

Whoa! When the Goddess said that he would come to us with open arms, she wasn't kidding. After we recovered from Aiden's surprise attack, we embraced him back and Link said,

"We missed you too, son. We all did."

I asked a dumb question and said,

"Aiden I have to know something."

He let us go and looked at me,

"Okay, what is it?"

"Do you recognize us?"

"Of course I do! They let me watch you from time to time while I was in the Sacred Realm, and I saw that you were missing me as much as I missed you. I'm curious about something though."

"Okay, what is it?"

"They told me that I wasn't born the normal way, and that you would explain it to me."

"We'll talk about all that later. I'm just glad to have you back."

It was here that the Goddess took her opportunity to get our attention. She said,

"I am glad that all of you are reunited. Now I have gifts for the five of you. First to you, Link; you have given more than was ever expected of you and you have much more to face. To you I give this."

She handed him a shield that had a pattern that was similar to the one he already had, but this one had a power coming from in that I could not place and it was more brilliantly colored than I had ever seen a shield before. The Goddess said,

"That shield will prevent you from becoming entangled in any mind tricks that Gannon will try. Use it well."

Then she turned to Zelda and said,

"Bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, to you I give this."

Zelda was given a new quiver full of Light Arrows and a gold tiara.

"The tiara is specially designed so that Gannon will not take control of you like he did the last time, and the Arrows are forged from the Light of the Goddesses themselves and they do not easily miss. Use them well for the battle grows near. I also give the promise that you shall remain the Ruler of Hyrule when this is over. You're time here is not done, and you still have many important things you need to do."

Then she turned to Midna and said,

"Twilight Princess, do not think that I have left you out. You have given your service to the world of Light before and you deserve recognition for it. I grant you the ability to return to the World of Light as often as you wish. You should not have to suffer for your ancestor's sake. Also I give you these."

Midna was given a short sword and a helmet that glowed with the light of the Sacred Realm.

"Hopefully you will not have to use these, but if the time comes, use them well. That sword will slay whatever evil Gannondorf might send your way and the helmet will prevent him from playing with your mind. I also grant the promise that you shall continue to live as the ruler of your people when this battle is over. You are much beloved by them, and by the world of Light."

Then she turned to Aiden and said,

"Aiden, son of the Hero of Light and the Heroine of Hyrule; to you I give these."

She gave him a tunic and cap that was styled like his father's, but was a gray color that appeared to be light and shadow mixed. He was also given a shirt of chain mail and a sword, shield, bracers and boots. Each of them crafted to his size, and the sword and shield were just his weight and perfect for him to handle. He took his gifts, and the Goddess said,

"You are clothed like your father who is already a recognized Hero by both the people of Hyrule and of the Sacred Realm. Take these and do not fail in your quest."

"I won't, Excellency."

Then the Goddess turned to me and said,

"You have already been blessed with several gifts from the Sacred Realm and the Twilight Realm. I can give you nothing else except this."

She handed me a sword and shield that had the same power that Link's shield did. The Goddess said,

"These weapons are the only other physical things that I can give to you. Use them well and do not fail in this quest."

"Excellency, what quest? I still don't understand what it is I'm supposed to do here."

"You will. That is the one thing that Gannondorf was correct about. Before this is over, you will understand your purpose here."

"But Excellency…."

She held up her hand to silence me.

"I shall say no more. Now go and be with your son. He has many questions that he seeks the answers to and I am sure you require the same of him."

The Goddess disappeared leaving the five of us alone. Zelda looked at Aiden and said,

"Well, perhaps you should get dressed first and then we can begin to call everyone to the throne room."

"The throne room? For what?"

"I'm sure that your mother and father will explain in detail. Midna, if you will come with me we need to prepare."

"Of course, Zelda; I'll see the three of you later. It's good to see you again Aiden. You were sorely missed."

'Thanks Midna."

We parted ways at the observatory and Aiden followed Link and I towards our rooms. On the way we explained to him about what was going to happen in the throne room later and that we were all to become knights of Hyrule."

"A knight? Wow, I haven't even been back an hour, and already I'm getting honored. What did I do to deserve that?"

Link replied,

"It really has nothing to do with what you've done yet, but what you are going to do."

"I know what I'm here to do, father; I need to defeat somebody called Gannondorf. That was explained to me in full and I've been well trained, but I was never told the particulars of why I was taken a week after I was born to live in the Sacred Realm. I'm confused about that, and all I was ever told was that you two are more qualified to explain since you're my parents. So can you tell me?"

Link and I looked at each other not knowing how to answer. I spoke up and said,

"Aiden, it's hard to explain. Can you at least give us until after the ceremony is over before we talk about it?"

"Mother, I have been waiting all my life to know why I was taken from you a week after I was born. Please talk to me."

We reached my room and I sighed and said,

"Okay, come in and sit down. Link, we've got some explaining to do."

We told him the whole story: how he was conceived, why he was taken into the Sacred Realm so soon after his birth, and why he had been returned to us on at this particular time. When we were finished he said,

"Wow; that's quite a story. Thank you for telling me, but I still don't understand something."

"All right, what is it?"

"Mother, you weren't born a Hylian. Where did you come from?"

I told him of my origins and that I had a spell put on me to ensure my survival in this world. I was still human, but my outer appearance and abilities were more the result of the spell than anything.

"Is it permanent?"

"You know, I don't know. I'll have to ask Midna, but nonetheless you're here. You're here, and we are so happy to see you again."

"I'm happy to see you again too. I missed you so much. The Goddesses were nice and all, but I always had the best time watching you. I saw your test, mother. You did a good job."

"Oh, you saw that? Well, I had a pretty good teacher. You're dad is a master swordsman, and I couldn't have asked for anyone better."

"Yeah, I saw it all. Anyway, I have to go and get ready for this ceremony thing. After all, we are all going to be knighted, right?"

Link replied,

"Right son. You go and get ready and your mother and I will do the same. When you are ready, meet us down in the stables and we'll get started."

Aiden took his clothes into my washroom and began to get changed. Link and I left him alone and we went down to the stables to get our horses ready for the ceremony. Link said to me,

"He looks so different. I knew he would, but my God!"

"He looks like you, ya know. I was right about his ears."

"Yeah, and I was right about his eyes. He looks like both of us, but I think you're right; he does take after me."

"Told ya; now let's go through this again."

As we talked about the steps of the ceremony Aiden walked into the stables dressed in the clothes and the weapons that the Goddess had given to him. We went to him and embraced him. I said,

"You look great, Aiden. That tunic suits you."

"Thanks mother, but can you help me with my sword belt? I can't quite get it fastened."

"Um, Link can you take care of that? I've gotta make sure that Cael is all cinched up."

Link obliged and in a few minutes, we were all ready. Standing together, we all looked like twins in a way since we were pretty much dressed alike, but each tunic was different and was appropriate to it's wearer. Link said to Aiden,

"I guess the only thing left now is for you me to give you a gift; well it's really a gift from Zelda, but she asked me to give it to you."

"What is it?"

"Here."

Link handed him a bridle and led him to a huge dapple-gray horse that was already saddled.

"This is her gift to you. His name is Nador, and he will serve you well."

"Wow! Thanks, father."

"Thank Zelda when you see her after the ceremony. Now then, when we go out there, we will ride in single file. I'll lead; Christina will follow me, and then you Aiden. There will be someone waiting to take our horses when we get to the entrance. Are you two ready?"

I replied,

"I'm all set. Aiden?"

"I'm ready. I got Nador's bridle on. Um…father? Can you tell me something before we go out there?"

"Of course," said Link.

"Can you tell me how to address the Princess when I see her? I'm not sure what to call her."

"Just call her 'Your Majesty' for now, but don't speak unless you are spoken to. This is a very solemn ceremony, and she deserves our respect."

After that, we took our horses outside and got up on them. I couldn't help but noticed that Aiden had an expert horseman's seat. He had indeed been taught well. We rode a short ways through the courtyard until we came to two lines of people waiting to see us. Link led us straight through the lines and as we passed them people cheered us, but I saw questioning looks on their kind faces when they saw the boy bringing up the rear. We got through the aisle created by the lines of people and behind me I heard whispers about the mysterious young man who looked a lot like Link. This could be trouble later. We kept going though. Once we got to the entrance of the castle, there were some stable boys ready to take our horses. We dismounted, gave the reins to them and made our way inside. Once there the doors were shut behind us and Link asked,

"Aiden, are you all right?"

"I'm fine, father."

"Christina?"

"I'm good; just a little nervous."

"I am too, but we'll be all right. Let's start on our way to the throne-room."

The three of us walked side by side the whole way there, but about halfway I got the feeling that all was not right. Something was lurking in the shadows and it was watching us and waiting for the perfect time to strike. I nudged Link and said,

"Be en guard; something's not right here."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know what it is, but just be aware of your surroundings. You too, Aiden."

They nodded in affirmation, and we made it into the throne room of the castle. The doors were opened from the other side and Zelda announced us. The room was huge! It seemed the entire population of Castle Town had made it in there. Along the sides of the regal carpet running through the middle of the floor were more of the people of Hyrule, and at the end of the room was a panel of people whom I recognized as the leaders of all the tribes of Hyrule: Darbus from the Goron tribe, Prince Ralis from the Zora tribe, Renado from Kakariko Village, Bo, the mayor of Ordon, and in the center of them all: Princess Zelda and Princess Midna. When we had reached the panel, Zelda stood from her throne and said to us,

"Draw your swords and place the point upon the ground."

We did as she asked.

"Kneel."

We knelt before her keeping our grasp upon the hilt of our blades. Then she said,

"The three of you who stand before me and the leaders of the tribes and villages of Hyrule have come here for a single purpose: to receive knighthood and the trust of the royal family. This is not an honor lightly given, and it is bestowed upon those who have shown great courage, undying loyalty, and true patriotism for this Kingdom. I have witnessed these traits in all of you, therefore I have asked that you stand before me now to receive the rank of knight."

She held out her hand and a servant stepped forward with a decorative sword encrusted with jewels and outlined with gold. She took the sword in her hand and said to us,

"Do you solemnly swear to uphold the laws and traditions of Hyrule, to answer when you are called to service, and to defend her in times of peace and in war even if it means giving up your very life?"

We replied in unison,

"I so swear."

"Then as the Ruler of Hyrule and the Bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, I name you Knights of Hyrule."

She stepped in front of Link and touched his shoulders with her blade,

"Arise and be recognized as a Knight by your people, Bearer of the Triforce of Courage and Hero of Hyrule."

Link stood up and sheathed his sword. Zelda stepped in front of me, touched my shoulders with her blade and said,

"Arise and be recognized as the first Lady Knight of your people, Heroine of Hyrule."

I stood, sheathed my sword and watched as Zelda stepped in front of Aiden, touch his shoulders with that glittering blade, and say,

"Stand and be recognized as a Knight by your people, Aiden son of Light and Shadow."

He stood up and I heard a murmur go through the crowd when she called his title. Zelda ignored it and said,

"My people, I give you the newest Knights of Hyrule. Threat them as you would me."

The crowd cheered and we began to walk back down the aisle towards the door, but we were interrupted. In front of us appeared that Shadow-Shape that I had come to despise and even hate. Zelda looked over at the Shadow-Shape with pure fire in her eyes as the crowd ran in fear from the entity that had emerged in the throne room. She said,

"Gannondorf, you are not welcome here!"

"Oh, but my dear Princess…I have some unfinished business with these three."

* * *

Hope that the knighting wasn't too boring, but there will be blood in the next chapter and we will finally see what Christina's purpose is in Hyrule. Please review!


	18. Chapter 18

The Shadow-Shape stood there for a moment, and then he walked toward us. As he did, he became more and more solid until his true form stood before us. He was monstrous! His blue skin was the color of the sky after a storm, and it was accented by flaming red hair that was rolled into sections and held back with a kind of coronet that surrounded his head like a sun. There were spikes coming from it and from each spike was attached a small chain, and at the end of the chains was a decorative talisman. He had a square jaw, a look of face that screamed of evil, and he was clothed in armor that looked thick and heavy. From his shoulders and back fell what I could only assume to be the Cloak of Shadows, for it appeared to be made of just that: shadow. The fabric it was made of looked like someone had taken the storm-clouds from the sky, smoke from the burning ashes of bodies, and darkness from the depths of the ocean, and woven them together into an article of clothing that screamed of cruelty. When he had materialized into solidity, there was a large, circle-shaped barrier that encompassed most of the room except for a small ring outside of it, and it went up around the five of us: Princess Zelda, Princess Midna, Link, Aiden and me. Link stood on one side of me, Aiden on the other, and the Princesses behind us. Whoever had not escaped from the room yet was doomed to watch the events unfold before them within the circle outside of the barrier for the door had been shut tight. Gannondorf approached Link brandishing his weapon against him and said,

"I'm glad to see that you are back on your feet, and now I have come to claim your life."

"Gannondorf, killing me is not going to get you anywhere right now."

"You know something, 'Hero,' you're right."

There was a ker-thunk of a blade impaling a body, and I heard Aiden, Zelda, Midna and Link cry,

"NOOOO!"

"I looked down and could only watch as Gannondorf drew the blade from my belly. I felt my strength begin to ebb from my limbs as I watched my blood flow out over my hands and Gannondorf stepped away to make room for the party approaching me. I fell to my knees, and Link caught me before my head hit the ground. Aiden, Zelda and Midna reached my side and I looked up at them and said,

"Aiden….b…"

"What is it, mother?"

"B….beh…..behind….you!"

Aiden looked up and saw that Gannondorf was about to bring his sword down upon his neck. He rolled out of the way just in time drawing his blade, and Gannon's blade cut the ground. Gannondorf leered over Aiden and said,

"Finally, I've done away with that woman. Now for her filthy offspring, and then I'll take care of the 'Hero.'"

"YOU HURT MY MOTHER, YOU BASTARD! I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU!"

Aiden held up his weapon against the tyrant and swung his blade towards him, only to hit nothing as Gannondorf's Cloak enabled himself to evaporate into smoke. Aiden looked around, knowing that his foe was there, but Gannondorf was sneaky and tried to attack him from behind. Luckily Aiden had hearing befitting a Goddess and was able to roll out of the way. Gannondorf loaded an arrow into a crossbow that he had and shot it. He just missed, with the arrow glancing off the barrier and coming to rest at Aiden's feet. Aiden rushed at Gannondorf and swung his blade over his head, but the blow was parried and Aiden was pricked in the shoulder by a hidden knife. Aiden cried out in pain and dropped his shield, but refused to let go of his sword. Then Gannondorf swung the blade from the side, Aiden attempted to parry it, but it was no good. The sword was knocked out of his hand, and Gannon kicked it away. Aiden sidled him, never turning his back, and Gannondorf knocked him in his back. He scooted towards the sword but he couldn't seem to find the hilt of it. Then Gannondorf chose the moment to evaporate into smoke again. Aiden took that moment to find his sword only to see that it was not behind him, as he thought it would be. Then he saw it off to the side, but Gannondorf appeared right in front of it, leaving Aiden no way to get to his weapon. Gannondorf swung his blade over Aiden's head, but Aiden ducked out of the way and rolled off. Gannondorf growled at his opponent's mastery of skill, but he was not about to give up. He ran after him, and Aiden had found his shield. It was all he could do to parry the blows that came his way when Gannon had caught up to him. Then a voice; it cried,

"Aiden, CATCH!"

There was a glimmer of light on steel and a sword went reeling through the air. Aiden caught it and rammed it through….air; again. Where had he gone? Gannon materialized on the other side of the field, but he stood stalk still over there. Aiden wheeled around and saw another Gannondorf that had snuck behind him again, and took up the sword and rammed it through it's chest. Gannondorf stumbled over with a sound like he had been hit so hard the breath went out of him. Aiden withdrew the blade, and Gannon fell over on his knees, until the replica returned to him. As soon as Gannon had absorbed the replica, he looked up at Aiden and laughed. He said,

"All of me has to be there for me to die, little boy. You cannot defeat me, for even if you rend my body again I just have to send my spirit away. I AM IMMORTAL!"

"Oh yeah?"

Aiden plunged the blade into his weakened opponent again, and true to his word Gannon sent part of himself away again. Nothing was working! Aiden looked at the blade and saw that it was his own that had been tossed to him. Then he got an idea. He began backing away towards Link, all the while keeping an eye on Gannon. Once he had reached Link he said,

"Father, let me borrow the Master Sword. It was worked in the past, and it should work against him again."

"Of course!" Zelda exclaimed. "Link, do it. It could be the only way."

"Without a word, Link drew the Master Sword from the scabbard on his back and handed it over to Aiden who took it up and brandished it against his enemy. He shouted,

"Come at me Gannondorf, and taste my steel!"

Gannondorf roared in rage and flew from the ground towards Aiden, but Aiden's divine training served him well. As Gannondorf attempted to sweep his blade through Aiden's side, the boy knelt down so the wicked sword passed over his head and he ran the sacred steel up through Gannondorf's belly and chest. At that point, Link ran onto the field to aid his son. Aiden withdrew the Master Sword, but Gannon had one final trick up his sleeve. As his blood spilled over his hands he looked up at both father and son from his knees and said,

"You will not be able to destroy my weapon. From now on my spirit will embody it, and none will destroy me. I will live on and I shall become stronger than ever."

With an evil smile on his malicious countenance, he fell over on his side and his body disappeared, but part of his shadow remained behind. The Cloak of Shadows fell over it and the Shadow that was Gannondorf's Spirit melded with it. As it happened the darkness that came from it appeared more evil and crueler than it had before, but as soon as he was gone the barrier within the throne room also disappeared letting out those who had been trapped. Aiden reached over to grab the Cloak, but Link stopped him saying,

"No son, don't touch it. It will destroy you. You heard what he said, only the one who bears the Triforce of Power can wield it, and he is destroyed. You have done well."

"Thank you father, it was not easy and I….oh, God….MOTHER!"

The two of them got a panicked look on their faces and they ran to my side where Zelda and Midna were doing their best to keep me alive….and failing. Aiden looked at me with tears shining in his eyes and said,

"Mother, please don't leave us. Don't let him win, fight!"

"It….It's okay…..son. This is…..what I am meant to do. I love you…..Aiden. From the day I….found out that….you were going to be born…..I loved you. Link…."

"I'm here. What is it?"

"Take care…..of him."

"I will, don't worry."

"Huh….after all that training…..this is how it ends."

My eyes closed, and I fell into unconsciousness. The next thing I knew was warmth and comfort and through the blackness I heard voices that were garbled and I couldn't make them out. Then I felt myself rising towards someplace that I knew I was supposed to go, but then I stopped. I looked around me in the darkness and I saw a pinpoint of light. I thought,

"_This isn't where I'm supposed to be. What's going on?_"

The pinpoint grew larger and more definitive until it had manifested into the Goddess. She said to me,

"It is not your time yet, Heroine of Hyrule. No, this is when you earn you're title, and rid the Hyrule, the Sacred Realm, and the Twilight Realm of the evil that has been plaguing them. Go back now. I have two last gifts to give you, and they are the most precious of them all."

I felt myself descending back towards mortality and those whom I had come to know and love. The darkness became lighter and lighter until it became like the sunrise and then I felt a rush of cold air hit my lungs and I gasped as I breathed the fresh air. I looked around me and saw that I was no longer in the throne room, but outside. I was lying in some kind of open box with my sword and shield lying across my chest, and then I realized,

"_I'm in a coffin! They still think I'm dead!_"

I sat up and scared the people who were carrying my previous lifeless body. They dropped me, and everyone who had a weapon drew it with cries of,

"GHOST!"

I hopped out of the coffin, no longer wanting to be that cramped space of finality, and I held up my hands to show that I was alive, but the people were, understandably, afraid. Then several of the bolder people, including the Gorons, began to attack me. Then a miracle: the Goddess appeared in the midst of them and at her sight everybody knelt down in respect and reverence. She spoke to them,

"Peace, people of Hyrule. She will bring no harm to you. She is not dead anymore; she walks amongst you as one of the living once again. Now, disperse from this place except the Rulers of Light and Twilight, the Hero of Light, and the Son of Light and Shadow."

They all couldn't get away quick enough. Soon only the six of us were left on that field. Midna looked at me and said,

"We saw you die. We all did. How is it that you are alive?"

"It was my doing, Ruler of the Twilight Realm. Tell me: where is the Cloak of Shadows?"

"It's in the throne room, Excellency. None of us can touch it except for Gannondorf, and he's gone now."

"No, not quite. This task is still incomplete, and I require your aid for one final task. But first: Christina."

"Yes, Excellency?"

"Have you benefited from your time as a Hylian? Do you feel like you have grown?"

"Immensely! It has been the greatest adventure of my life!"

"Be that as it may, do you want to go back to the way you were before you became like this?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm giving you a choice: remain the way you are now, or return to your human form and have no trace of any of the Hylian marks that you bear now."

"I'd have to give up my skills though, wouldn't I?"

"Yes."

I thought for a moment and weighed my options. If I went back to the way I had been I would go home and be recognized as myself, but all my newfound fighting skills and knowledge would be gone forever. On the other hand, if I stayed the way I was, those skills would remain, but if I went home I might not be recognized. I asked her,

"If I go home, will I be recognized by my friends and my love?"

"I will personally guarantee that for you. Nothing of your former self is lost. The only thing that would be permanently changed is your outer appearance and the fact that you can do a bit of magic. The choice is yours."

"I….I choose….I choose to remain as a Hylian. This has been too great of an honor for me to just give up."

"Then, you shall remain a Hylian for the rest of your days. The spell that was placed on you by the Realm of Twilight shall be made permanent by the Realm of Light. Look upon me."

I looked into the Goddesses eyes once again, and I felt my core change from something that was familiar to something entirely different. Not only that, I felt something like warmth flow down into my right hand and my cloak disappear from my shoulders simultaneously. It only lasted a second, and when it was over I looked at down at myself but I didn't perceive any real difference in myself.

"Is it done, Excellency?"

"It is. With this gift, I have taken back the cloak that served as your shield. You no longer need it. Now, take your son and return to the throne room. That is where the final battle be decided."

"Wait, Excellency! How can we defeat him? None of us can touch that Cloak, and you took away mine."

She was gone. I groaned and said,

"More riddles, and more mysteries! This is getting ridiculous, and I'm getting sick of it!"

Then I heard a gentle, angelic voice,

"Christina?"

"Yes Link?"

"Are you really alive?"

"Link, look at me. Go ahead and touch me if you like. I'm as alive as you."

He came over to me, placed his hands upon my shoulders and looked me in the face. He studied it like a book, and I couldn't help but ask,

"What are you looking at?"

"You're different."

"Different how?"

Then I heard Aiden's sweet tenor voice say,

"He's right, mother. You are different somehow."

"Well, I just went through a permanent change. That's gotta be what you're seeing."

"No, that's not….wait."

Link took my right hand and took the bracer off of it. Then he took off my glove, and there glowing as brightly as I had ever seen it was a Triforce. I was utterly shocked! I stammered,

"Uh….um….wha….how...What is this? How did that get there?"

Zelda spoke up and quoted, "'You shall find your Power at the end of all things.' This is the power that the Goddess spoke of. This is the reason that Gannondorf wanted you dead so badly. That Cloak gave him the power to transcend between Light and Shadow, and it also gave him the power to spy. In his spying he must have overheard who it was that was to be the next Bearer of the Triforce of Power: you. If you were dead, then they would have no one to succeed the power to, and because you were blessed by the Goddesses, he couldn't kill you while you were his captive. All he could do was bide his time, and wait until Aiden had been born; as well as try to terrify you into submission It was only now that he could kill you because the Cloak had given him that power, and it was even more powerful than the cloak that was given to you by the Goddesses."

"Bu….but….I don't even know how to use it. Will it come off?"

"Why would you want such an incredible gift to go to someone else? THIS is the reason that you were brought here. THIS is your purpose: to be the next bearer of the Triforce of Power."

I didn't know what to say. I was afraid; scared that it would be too much for me to handle. I said to Zelda,

"What if it corrupts me? I don't want to become like Gannondorf."

"Then don't allow it. Now, go and do as the Goddess said. Take Aiden and return to the throne room. Gannondorf and the Cloak of Shadows still need to be dealt with."

I nodded and said,

"Come on, Aiden. Let's go; we've got some unfinished business to attend to."

"All right mother."

Then Link halted us and said,

"Hold on….I'm coming with you. I want to see Gannondorf defeated once and for all."

The three of us took off for the castle, and once we reached the doors Link said,

"Have courage, you two. This is almost over."

We nodded and opened the doors. The atmosphere in the foyer screamed of darkness. It was almost crushing, but onward we went until we reached the throne room. The doors had been sealed with both physical and magical restraints and it took some work to undo everything, but when they had all been broken we opened the doors. There in the middle of the floor was that cursed Cloak. Before we approached it, Link said to Aiden,

"Son I have a feeling that you are going to need this again, so here. Use it well."

He drew the Master Sword from its scabbard again and handed it over to Aiden.

"Thank you father; I'll return it after this demon has been vanquished."

Link stepped back knowing that his part was over and he was just a spectator now. Aiden and I left him at the wall and drew close to the Cloak of Shadows. Once we had reached it I said,

"I don't know what to do, Aiden."

"Mother, you bear the Triforce of Power now, so you can wield it. It won't hurt you if you touch it."

I gingerly reached out with my right hand, and I saw the Triforce on it glowing fiercely. With one firm swipe I picked up that wretched thing, and I put it on. As soon as I did I felt Gannondorf's presence again, and I heard his malicious laughter. He said,

"_It's_ _just you and I now, Heroine, and you are not going to take this weapon from me_!"

I screamed at the voice,

"Release yourself from this vile thing!"

"_Never!_"

"I said, GET OUT!"

"_NO!_"

Then I tried something else.

"Cloak of Shadows! I am the new bearer of the Triforce of Power! Hear my voice and obey me!"

Then I heard a new voice. One full of more darkness, malice and evil then Gannondorf's could have ever carried. It said,

"**I hear your voice, and I do not obey you. I only obey the one known as Gannondorf.**"

"I am your new master! Release the spirit within you; it does not belong!"

I heard nothing for a moment, and then,

"**I….I must obey. Gannondorf, you are no longer my master. Begone from me."**

I heard an unholy scream, and I saw the dark shape as it was released from the Cloak. Aiden sprang into action, and swiped at it with the Master Sword. It cut through the Shadow, and with a flash of brightest Light I had ever seen, that Shadow burst into a million pieces which evaporated into nothingness. Then I said to the Cloak,

"You must do what I say, is this correct?"

"**It is.**"

"When I remove you, I want you to destroy yourself so that you can never fall into the wrong hands again."

"**I do not wish to, but I must obey."**

I removed the Cloak of Shadows from my back, and threw it down on the ground. As soon as it hit the ground it began to dissipate like smoke. Within seconds it was gone, and the only ones left standing were the three of us. The atmosphere immediately felt lighter, and I felt like the weight of the world had been removed from my shoulders and the castle felt purified. It was over. Gannondorf's evil had been broken and we could all finally breathe. I fell to my knees in exhaustion and Link ran over to me to help me. When he reached me he wrapped his strong arms around my shoulders and said,

"Well done, Christina. You really are a hero."

"Don't thank me. Aiden did most of the work."

Then Aiden said,

"We all had our part to play in this endeavor, mother. None of us had any part less than the other."

Link helped me up off my knees and out the door. Halfway there he said,

"You really scared us there for a minute. You started talking in different voices, and two of them weren't yours."

"Yeah, mother. One of them sounded like Gannondorf, and the other was worse. Way worse."

"Don't remind me you guys. That was awful enough without being reminded of it. I'd just as soon forget the whole thing."

Nothing else was said as they walked me to my room. When we got there they laid me on my bed and I fell into a deep sleep, but before I let rest take me I said to them,

"Thank you both. You two are indispensable, and I couldn't wish for greater or more honorable Heroes than you."

The last thing I perceived before sleep took my limbs was two smiling faces: one that belonged to Link and one that was part mine and part Link's. My son and his.

* * *

Sorry this took so long to post. My computer's been in the ER. Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW! I don't have enough.


	19. Chapter 19

I awoke one morning still feeling like my body had been through the wringer, and I couldn't really remember most of what had happened….until I looked at my hand and saw the Triforce. What had happened came back to me in a flood of memory, and I felt different. I couldn't really explain it except for a new feeling of power coursing threw my very essence. I got up, threw on my tunic and I walked out into the hallway. As I walked I noticed that something was different, and then it hit me: everybody was gone! All the people that had found refuge in the castle and in the grounds were gone. I ran to Zelda's chambers and I found her looking out her window. She had a look of peace and strength on her face and I hated to interrupt her thoughts, but I said,

"Zelda, I hate to bother you, but where is everyone?"

"They are gone."

"What do you mean, 'gone?'"

"They have returned to their homes and villages. You were out of it for quite some time."

"How long was I out? I thought it was only yesterday that we defeated Gannondorf."

"You've been asleep for three days. Most of the camp has been dismantled, people have returned to their homes, and Hyrule is at peace once again."

"Wow. So we're safe?"

"For now; I'm sure that more trouble will come our way though."

"So now that it's all over what happens to me? Do I go home or do I have some other purpose to serve?"

She answered my question with a question.

"Christina, are you content living in Hyrule?"

"Well….yes. But, I….I"

She finished for me.

"You miss your loved ones."

"So much; I especially miss my guy, Matthew. He's….my everything."

"Well, now that this is over, I can finally tell you what the Goddesses had in mind for that mark on your hand. First of all, the Triforces cannot leave the lands of Hyrule so neither can you."

"WHAT! What am I supposed to do then?"

"Calm down and let me finish. As I said, these marks cannot leave these lands, but I have been informed that the Goddesses want to give you one final gift."

"What is that?"

"They want to bring your love here to Hyrule. They know you miss each other, and it is unfortunate that you were plucked from your world without even having the opportunity to explain to either of you what your purpose here was. So would you like to have him come here?"

"Forever?"

"Yes."

"I'd like to have him here, but I don't want to make that decision for him. I'd like to ask him first so that he doesn't suffer from the shock that I did when I was pulled here."

"I think that is a wonderful idea, although I'm not sure….."

We were interrupted by the Goddess appearing in the room. When I saw her I said,

"Excellency, I thought that we wouldn't see you again."

"I am here because I heard your plan, and it is wise. Be warned though, if this action is taken it cannot be undone. If he agrees to come then he cannot return."

"I'd still prefer to ask him."

"Come with me then, and take your weapons."

"Um….alright."

I walked back to my room and retrieved my weapons, but the whole time I felt quite perplexed as to why I would need my weapons to go back to my world. Was there another battle that needed to be fought? Oh well, I guess it would become clear when I got there. I retrieved my sword, shield, quiver of arrows and bow, and made my way back to Zelda's chambers. When I got there the only person I found was Zelda. She said,

"Let's' go down to the stables."

I nodded and we made our way down there. I thought about asking Zelda if she knew what was going to happen when we got there, but one look at her face told me that she was just as perplexed as I was, so I said nothing. When we got there I saw in the distance Link and Aiden jousting each other, and Link was the victor. I had to turn my head from the pleasant scene though for the Goddess appeared in front of me again. She said,

"Do you have your horse?"

"He's right here, Excellency."

"Take him and make him ready."

I saddled Cael up, and led him out. Then the Goddess said,

"When his decision has been reached, I will bring you back. For now, I will place you where you need to be."

In front of me, a piece of land and sky began to ripple and roll much like I had seen my TV screen do before I was pulled here. I led my horse through it and this time the passage was much easier. Instead of being pulled along, I felt as though I was walking on a moving sidewalk and the whole time, and the Triforce on my hand was glowing through my glove. When I stepped out on the other side of the door, the sight that met my eyes was horrible! I suddenly thought back to when we were traveling with Midna just after my rescue and she has mused to herself where the little goblin things that roamed the Hyrule fields had gone off to. Well, they had gone here….to my world! There were hordes of them! The doorway to my world had either been reopened or it had never been shut from the last time, and now people were dying around me left and right. The military was doing their best, but the creatures behaved much like the characters from Twilight Princess: no matter how many times you killed the same creature, it would always come back. I went into action and began to fight like there was no tomorrow because soon there might not be a tomorrow. I hacked at creatures left and right, but it was doing little good. Then I saw him: my love. He was in a fight with one of the goblins, and I wasn't about to leave him like that. I urged Cael towards that fight, and this is where my bow skills finally came in handy. I put my sword away, drew an arrow and fired killing the goblin that my love had been fighting. I reached him, and I shouted,

"Matthew, take my hand!"

Bewildered, he whipped around at the sound of his name, and saw my hand drawn to him. He immediately recognized me and took it. He swung up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist and shouted,

"Christina, where have you been?"

"We'll talk about it later! We gotta get rid of these things first!"

"How? They've been attacking people for weeks, and no matter what anyone does, they always come back!"

He looked behind us, and shouted to me,

"There's a giant bird-thing on our tail!"

"THEN DUCK!"

He got down as low as he could and I whipped out an arrow and shot it down eliciting a strange look from Matthew and he asked,

"Where do you learn to do that?"

"No time, here take this!"

I gave him my shield and said,

"If you see anything coming at us, block it!"

He did as he was told, and we cut our way through the goblins, lizard warriors, and giant armadillos that were ravaging the suburban neighborhood. The whole time we were fighting, even though this might be our last stand, I couldn't help but think that this was the person that I wanted standing next to me if we met our end. Then a particularly difficult enemy found us: a heavily armored knight with gilded armor. From what I remembered from the game, the only way to defeat this thing was to remove all of it's armor and then you could defeat it, but only if you could get past it's kick attacks. We looked at the thing in fear, we got off the horse, and I brandished my weapon against the knight. He tilted his head back and laughed at me. He said,

"This is the best they could send? A little girl who likes to play with swords? Walk away from this now, insignificant whelp. You are in over your head."

"I've been in over my head for the past ten months, and I'm not walking away now."

"Suit yourself."

He swung his massive axe-blade, and while I managed to dodge the blow, he knocked the bracer off my right arm….and broke my arm. I screamed in pain and dropped my sword. I heard Cael whinny in fear and run away and I heard Matthew cry,

"NO!"

And the knight swung his weapon and brought it down while I held up my hands in defense…..but he didn't hit. I looked up at him through clenched eyes and saw the bludgeon had stopped just shy of my head. Matthew had thrown himself across my body to protect me but was looking up at the knight now as well. The knight looked at me and said,

"You have the sacred Mark?"

I nodded hurriedly, never taking my hands from my face, and the knight lifted his weapon and knelt before us. Matthew got up off me and said,

"What's going on and why are you doing that?"

"She bears the sacred Mark. We must do as she says."

I asked,

"We?"

"All of us that you see here. What do you wish of us?"

"Return to Hyrule and do not trouble these people any more."

"As you wish, master."

The knight turned away and called off the attack. Everything just stopped. Time stood still then they all began disappearing. Matthew turned to me and said,

"Okay, WHAT IS GOING ON HERE! Why are you dressed like that, where have you been, and what have you been doing."

"Matthew I promise that I will explain everything, but I have a question to ask you first."

He just stared at me.

"Will you come with me to Hyrule?"

"You mean from Legend of Zelda?"

"Yes."

"Christina, that place is fictional! You should know better than that."

"And those monsters and everything were fictional too, right?"

"Well….no. They were real; all too real. They killed so many people, including both our families."

I felt the color drain from my face.

"M…my parents are dead?"

He nodded and said,

"They were the first to die. A report came on the news about it and that was when all hell broke loose. My parents are dead too. Everything that was precious to me is gone, and now you're back, and I can't lose you again."

I just stared at him. My family was dead. They had killed them, and I wanted vengeance. It filled me up like a red torrent and for a moment I felt nothing but rage, anger and fury. I drew my sword with my left hand and I said to Matthew,

"I'll be back in a minute."

He stopped me. His was the voice of reason and it said,

"Revenge is not the answer. Justice will come to you, but now is not the time to seek it. If I have learned anything over the last several weeks, it is that justice will come, but we cannot take it ourselves. It will only get you killed. Besides your arm is broken."

I felt the Triforce glowing on my hand and I remembered what Gannondorf had done, and how he had become the way he had. I didn't want to become like that. If I did, I would break my Bonds and it would mean my death. I couldn't risk that, there were too many precious things that I had, the foremost of them standing in front of me. I couldn't lose them. Then I saw Matthew's eyes on my hand and he asked,

"Christina, when did you get that tattoo?"

"It's not a tattoo. It's a Triforce."

"A Triforce? What are you….I mean, are you sure about that?"

"Take a look."

He looked at my mangled hand and said,

"That IS a Triforce. Christina? How did you get that?"

"Return to Hyrule with me, and I'll tell you everything, but I have to warn you: if you go you can't come back here."

I saw the wheels turning in his head. He thought for a moment and said,

"Come back here to what? Homelessness? A poor economic state where people aren't valued as people and are just numbers? No, it seems that living in a world where I am not even valued is the poorer choice. My family is dead, and you are all I have left. I'll go with you."

"Then let's go."

I pulled that piece of horse-grass from my pocket and blew it. It wall all dried up and barely made a noise, but it was enough and Cael came running. When he arrived I looked to Matthew and said,

"Can you help me up?"

Perplexed at the appearance of the horse he said,

"Of course, but how…..oh forget it. You had better start explaining soon, though."

He helped me up on Cael and got behind me. We rode out of the neighborhood and onto a large neighboring football field. All around us was death and destruction; the bodies of the dead and dying strewn everywhere. It was all too familiar. My dream from all those months ago had become a reality…..and there was nothing I could do. I felt tears streaming down my cheeks for these poor souls. Then I saw the ripple in the land and sky. I said,

"Matthew, get off and help me off, please."

He did as I asked and we stood at the doorway looking over the carnage that had been caused by the creatures of Hyrule. I said,

"How did it come to this?"

"Christina, don't worry about it and let's get out of here."

"How can I not worry about it?"

"Look, I feel bad for them too, but sitting around here isn't going to get us anywhere. They'll pick up the pieces and move on just like they always have, and just like we're about to do. Come on."

"I turned from the horrific scene and walked through the portal. Once again that feeling of the moving sidewalk, and as we walked along I noticed that Matthew was enveloped in darkness and it covered him completely. I was afraid for him, but there was nothing I could do. Then we stepped out into the light, and Matthew's dark shell fell from him. He had changed! He was stronger like I had been when I first came here, his clothes were changed and he had pointy ears just like mine. However I didn't think long on it as there was a group of familiar people on the field. We were met by Zelda, Link and Aiden, and Zelda looked at me and said,

"Something happened back there, didn't it?"

I nodded and said,

"All the creatures that resided in this place found their way through the doorway and brought a lot of pain and suffering back there. I commanded them to return here so that they can be dealt with on more familiar ground."

She gave me a look of sympathy and understanding and said,

"Then you did well. I am sorry for those who lost their lives back in the other world, but nothing can be done. When you stepped back, the doorway shut for good."

"That murderer killed my parents, Zelda! He killed them and I couldn't do anything about it!"

The Triforces on mine, Link's and Zelda's hands glimmered and I heard the voice of the Goddess say,

"_The doorway had not been shut the last time due to the Cloak of Shadows. It had been enchanted it so that as long as Gannondorf was alive, the doorway would remain open. There was nothing any of us could do except destroy that foul weapon. Use your power and rid Hyrule of its plague. Do not fail in this endeavor, Heroine._"

Then it was gone. I sank to my knees and Matthew held me. We both felt a great loss. After everything that had been gained, there had still been much that had been lost. I said,

"I'm going to kill them all for what they have done. It is in my power, and Gannon's evil will be stamped out in this world once and for all."

We all stood there for a minute not saying anything until Matthew spoke up,

"All right, will someone tell me what's going on here? I mean, how did my girlfriend go from being in the real world to a video game world, what is a Cloak of Shadows, what happened to Gannondorf, and what am I going to do here? And another thing: Christina you've got pointy ears. Why do you have pointy ears?"

It brought me out of my thoughts and reminded me that more explanations were in order. I said,

"I'll answer all of your questions, but I have to warn you: it's a strange story."

"After everything I've been through, I'm ready to believe anything! I mean come on, look at this place."

"I've seen it, trust me."

"Christina, start talking to me."

I led him to my room in the castle and began the story. After many interruptions and several attempts to explain what had transpired in my absence, I finally finished and Matthew just stared at me. After a long moment he got out,

"So….Aiden's your son and Link is the dad, but you two never…you know?"

I vigorously shook my head and said,

"I didn't ask for it to happen and neither of us really had a choice. It was the only way to defeat Gannondorf."

Matthew sighed and took my hand. He said,

"I'm sorry that this whole situation happened to you, but I'm more than happy to know that you weren't unfaithful to me while you were gone."

"I could never betray you, Matthew. You know that."

"I know, I know, I guess I just figured that you might move on or something. I mean with the way you look now…."

"What's wrong with the way I look?"

"Well, your ears and hair."

"So?"

"Christina, you've got pointed ears and copper hair! Didn't you see that?"

"Why don't you take a look at yourself, hotshot."

"What do you mean?"

"Go look in the mirror in the washroom."

He got up off the bed and I heard a gasp come from the other room. He came out in a rush stammering,

"M…..my….my ears! My body! What happened to me?"

"That would be my doing."

Midna appeared in the room. She looked at Matthew, who said,

"I've seen you before."

"I came to you in your dreams to let you know that your love was safe. Now I have given you a gift."

"I remember that. It was so real. But what gift are you talking about?"

"Your new appearance. Do not fear; I did the same thing to Christina when she passed through the doorway. I'm still not sure if someone from another world can survive in Hyrule without a body already adapted to the air. I think that you will find the change most exhilarating. And Christina….you picked a good man there."

"You said that before, Midna. Thank you."

"No problem. Now Matthew, treat that girl right. She's a hero and highly regarded here."

"I will."

Midna left the room and left us alone. Then I did something that I had not been able to do for the longest time. I embraced Matthew and he embraced me back. We kissed. It was the best kiss I had ever received and it felt more right than anything else in the world. Then another interruption. The door opened and Aiden stood on the other side of it. He looked at the scene before him and said,

"What did I miss?"

"Oh, we're just happy to finally be back in each other's arms is all. We missed each other a lot."

Oh. Well anyway, Father wants to see the two of you downstairs if you have all your explanations out of the way."

"We'll be right there."

He grinned at us and left. I looked to my love and said,

"Shall we go?"

"Do we have to?"

"Duty calls, my love."

He sighed and reluctantly said,

"All right, let's go."

We went downstairs to the foyer where we saw everybody including Midna. I said,

"All right; what's the big emergency? I just got my boyfriend back, and I'd like to enjoy him before I go and rid the world of evil."

Link looked at me and said,

"Well first of all, Congratulations, and second of all I wanted you here to see this. You've been with me through everything, and it's only fair."

We all gave him a 'what-are-you-up-to' look, and Link faced Zelda. He took her hands much in the same way that Matthew had taken mine a moment ago and he said,

"Zelda, through all of this trouble we have endured much. For a while I was angry with you because of what was necessary, but now in our victory I have never felt a better time to ask you this."

He sank to his knee and went on,

"I want to face the days ahead with you, and continue to fight by your side through whatever evil might plague Hyrule again; only this time as your husband. Zelda, Princess of Hyrule, will you marry me?"

Zelda looked on as regally as ever and replied,

"I will, my green-clad prince. I will."

Link rose from his knee and they kissed. He said,

"I don't have a ring for you, yet."

"I don't need a ring, my love."

Matthew said,

"Well now that that's out of the way, I guess I have one last question for you, Christina."

"What is it? Are you still confused about something?"

"Oh, it'll take time to get used to all this, but it's not about anything in this place."

I looked at him questioningly until he got down on one knee. He said,

"I promised myself that if I ever saw you again, I would ask you this question. I have you back now and nothing is going to take you from me again. Christina….will you marry me?"

I was taken aback. I expected more questions, him requesting time to get used to this place, but a marriage proposal? I didn't know what to say except,

"YES! YES! YES!"

Matthew got up from his knee and hugged me as I continued with a barrage of 'yes's' through my tears of joy. He repeated,

"I'm not losing you again. It took too long for you to come back to me and I'm not letting you go."

Midna and Aiden looked on and Midna said,

"Two weddings. This will be our greatest adventure yet!"

Nonetheless, two months later a royal DOUBLE wedding took place in that castle. The ceremony was beautiful and everybody there said that it was about time that Link and Zelda had made a commitment to each other. People still questioned where Aiden had come from since no one had ever seen him before, but the only response that they ever got from him was,

"I was born to defeat Gannondorf and serve the Princess of Hyrule."

Everyone he told that to left feeling more confused than ever, but no one ever got anything else out of him, Link or me. No one was surprised at my getting married to a stranger from the other world and why should they be? It was only natural. Thanks to the spell that Midna had placed on Matthew he was able to learn how to fight just as easily as I had. Watching him being put through his paces on the practicing field was incredible to watch, and fun to boot. As I watched him, I was reminded of what I had been through on that field and I slightly envied it, but I had work to do. I would be gone for a few days at a time with Aiden finding the creatures that had ravaged my world and with Aiden's help, leveled them. Before long, Matthew had come to master his skills even more quickly than I had, was made at Knight and was given a horse all his own. I began to learn the Power of the Triforce that I bore and found that I had the power to devastate entire nations if I wanted to. There were times that I was tempted to do more than just kill these creatures, but I was not about to break my Bond of Trust with any of my friends. It was those Matthew and those Bonds that kept me loyal to Hyrule. After Matthew had been made a Knight we moved into a house just outside of the castle. It was not as big as the castle, but it was all ours.

Well I suppose that's it. The only things left to say are the hordes that killed mine and Matthew's famililes are just about gone, save a few ragtag bands here and there. Although, something odd did happen the other day. I recieved a letter saying,

"This isn't the end yet. Until next time, Heroine of Hyrule."

Personally I think that Gannon may be amassing his power again, but so what...I have the Triforce of Power now, and I will not easily have it taken from me. Link and Zelda are doing wonderful. He has fashioned quite nicely to palace life, although he still has his adventures. Link and Matthew accompany me on my quests, and quite often you will see the three of us jousting or practicing with our swords. However I just received some news from the castle physician that will limit my swordplay shortly. I have to tell Matthew, Link, Zelda and Aiden that there will be a new addition to our little band soon. Who knows, perhaps this one will be the next saviour of Hyrule. Until we meet again my friends. I bid you all a fond farewell.

* * *

I'm sorry that this has taken me so long to post, but it is finally finished. I'd like to thank all of my loyal readers, those who did review and those who didn't, and I'd like to give a special thank you to megzarie who encouraged me and helped me out along the way with her kind reviews. Please review though. I'd like more of them. Thanks!


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